Question:
Humiliation influences obese teens' symptoms of depression?
Answer:
Depression is common among obese
teenagers, but the association between the two may largely be
explained by teens' experiences of being shamed, and other
psychosocial factors, new research suggests. "There is a clear statistical association between adolescent obesity
and adolescent depression," study author Dr. Rickard L. Sjoberg, of
Uppsala University in Sweden, told Reuters Health.
However, he added, "this association disappears when psychosocial
factors and experiences of being treated in humiliating and degrading
ways are controlled for." Sjoberg and colleagues analyzed data from 4,703 children, aged 15 and
17 years, who participated in the Survey of Adolescent Life in
Vestmanland 2004, a psychosocial health survey administered
triannually in Sweden. They found that overweight and obesity was more
common among boys than among girls, while depression was more common
among girls. Obese teens reported experiencing more symptoms of depression than
their normal-weight or overweight peers and had a higher risk of
depression, the researchers report in the journal Pediatrics. Also, obese teens were more likely to say they had been treated in a
degrading manner, had been ignored or otherwise had shaming
experiences within the past three months than were their normal-weight
or overweight peers.
Further, adolescents who reported the highest number of shame
experiences were more than 11 times more likely to be depressed than
those who reported the lowest number of shame experiences, the report
indicates.
The association between obesity and major depression disappeared,
however, after the researchers took into consideration the
adolescents' gender, parental employment, and parental separation, the
report indicates.
Teenagers with unemployed parents and those in families in which the
parents were separated were more likely to have depressive symptoms
than their peers. In fact, these variables predicted major depression
among the study group, the researchers note, and were unrelated to the
teens' weight.
Sjoberg speculated that the association between the teenagers'
depression and having an unemployed parent may possibly be explained
by the idea "that having a parent who has the experience of being
unwanted at the labor market or incapable of meeting the demands of
this market will put an increased psychological strain on the family
system which will increase the risk of the adolescent developing
depression."
He explained that, in Sweden, both parents are usually employed and
that few mothers stay at home with their children beyond the first 18
months after birth when state funding allows one parent to stay home
to care for an infant.
Altogether, the study's findings imply "that an understanding of the
social consequences of obesity is also necessary in order to make
sense of the obesity-depression association," Sjoberg told Reuters
Health.
He and his colleagues conclude that "these results suggest that
clinical treatment of obesity may sometimes not just be a matter of
diet and exercise but also of dealing with issues of shame and social
isolation." how incredibly obvious. i can't believe people waste money on studies like
this. and why the totally unrelated snippet about doctor kickbacks at the bottom?
trying to scare folks again, eh jake? Sjoberg and colleagues analyzed data from 4,703 children, aged 15 and
17 years, who participated in the Survey of Adolescent Life in
Vestmanland 2004, a psychosocial health survey administered
triannually in Sweden. yeah..a total waste when all they have to do is ask you huh? its called a sig..
I guess you want folk to carry on not knowing...for reasons best known
to yourself you don't find it obvious that being degraded by peers, that being told by
the media that you didn't meet the impossible standard of beauty, that being
hounded by "well-meaning" parents and even friends, would lead to and low
self esteem which would lead to depression? where do you think eating disorders come from? combine the above with a
dash of PTSD and you have the makings of anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive
overeating. do you live in a hole? or perhaps you're one of the lucky ones who was always perfect, always part
of the "in" crowd? i'm sure these people did a wonderful study. it just seems like something
most people would already know. i bet now they'll suggest these children go
on a diet or something.
