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

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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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Notes

  1. The 95th percentile of body mass index for age and sex is described interchangeably in the literature as “obese” and “overweight” for children and adolescents. We have chosen to use the terminology “obesity” as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/defining.html).

  2. The standard definition for obesity in adults is a body mass index ≥30.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the valuable contributions of Lara Akinbami, MD, Debra Brody, PhD, Karen Davis, MA, and Diane Makuc, DrPH from NCHS; and Jianping He, MS from NIMH. This work was supported in part by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.

Conflict of interest

No conflict of interest declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, Ross Hall, 2300 Eye Street NW, Washington, DC, 20037, USA

    Alison K. Merikangas & Sean D. Cleary

  2. CDC National Center for Health Statistics, 3311 Toledo Road, Room 6126, Hyattsville, MD, 20782, USA

    Pauline Mendola, Patricia N. Pastor & Cynthia A. Reuben

Authors
  1. Alison K. Merikangas
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  2. Pauline Mendola
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  3. Patricia N. Pastor
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  4. Cynthia A. Reuben
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  5. Sean D. Cleary
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Correspondence to Pauline Mendola.

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Merikangas, A.K., Mendola, P., Pastor, P.N. et al. The association between major depressive disorder and obesity in US adolescents: results from the 2001–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. J Behav Med 35, 149–154 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-011-9340-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-011-9340-x

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