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. 2012 Apr;35(2):149-54.
doi: 10.1007/s10865-011-9340-x. Epub 2011 Apr 10.

The association between major depressive disorder and obesity in US adolescents: results from the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Alison K Merikangas  1 , Pauline Mendola, Patricia N Pastor, Cynthia A Reuben, Sean D Cleary
Affiliations

The association between major depressive disorder and obesity in US adolescents: results from the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Alison K Merikangas et al. J Behav Med. 2012 Apr.

Abstract

The association between major depressive disorder (MDD) and obesity was assessed in 4,150 US adolescents aged 12-19 years from the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Weight and height were measured by health professionals and MDD was based on a structured diagnostic interview. The prevalence of MDD in the past year among US adolescents was 3.2% and 16.8% of US adolescents were obese. After adjustment for sex, age, race/ethnicity and poverty, MDD was not significantly associated with obesity among adolescents overall (adjusted odds ratio (adjOR) = 1.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.9-2.9), but an increased odds of obesity was observed among males (adjOR = 2.7, 95% CI = 1.1-7.1) and non-Hispanic blacks (adjOR = 3.1, 95% CI = 1.1-8.3) with MDD. Future research on strategies that might reduce the risk of obesity in males and non-Hispanic black adolescents with MDD may be warranted.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest No conflict of interest declared.

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