Obese girls are more likely to develop depression during childhood and adolescence than their peers who weigh less, a research review suggests.
Compared to girls at a healthy weight, girls with obesity were 44 per cent more likely to have depression or to be diagnosed with it in the future, the analysis of 22 studies with a total of almost 144,000 participants found.
Just being overweight rather than obese, didn’t appear to influence the risk of depression for girls, and there wasn’t any association between weight and depression in boys.
The smaller studies included in the analysis
Compared to girls at a healthy weight, girls with obesity were 44 per cent more likely to have depression or to be diagnosed with it in the future, the analysis of 22 studies with a total of almost 144,000 participants found.
Just being overweight rather than obese, didn’t appear to influence the risk of depression for girls, and there wasn’t any association between weight and depression in boys.
The smaller studies included in the analysis