The Relationship Between Obesity and Depressive Trends in Elementary School Children

Park, Seon Mi; Kim, Eun Young; Rho, Young Il; Park, Sang Kee; Park, Yeong Bong; Moon, Kyung Rye; Pyo, Kyung Sik

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study was designed to evaluate the relationship between obesity and depressive trends in elementary school children.
METHODS
In 1999, we surveyed 2,091 elementary school children(1,079 boys and 1,012 girls) whose ages ranged from 10 to 12 years. Obesity was defined as an obesity index over 20 percent. The degree of depression was compared between the obese group and the normal body weight group according to Korean Children's Depression Inventory(CDI) of Kovacs and Beck.
RESULTS
Among the subjects, 1,884(88.2%) formed the normal body weight group, 128(6.1%) formed mildly obese group, 98(4.7%) formed the moderately obese group and 21(1.0%) formed the severely obese group. The mean depression score in the obese group was significantly higher than that of the normal body weight group, and the more severely obese the more significantly the depression score increased. The depression score of the obese girls' group was higher than the obese boys' group. The depression score was significantly higher in the obese group who hate exercise and like computer games, than in the group who like exercise and don't play computer games. The depression score was significantly higher in the obese group who hate physical education than the group who like it.
CONCLUSION
The depression score of the obese group was significantly higher than normal body weight group in elementary school children. Physicians should provide psychological support in the treatments of obese children.