Perceived and actual obesity in childhood and adolescence and risk of adult depression

BACKGROUND: Obesity in childhood and adolescence has important health consequences, but its relation to risk of adult depression remains uncertain. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of perceived and actual obesity during childhood and adolescence on prevalence and incidence of adult depression risk. METHODS: Cohort study of 91,798 female registered nurses followed longitudinally for 12 years. RESULTS: As compared with lean women of the same age, women in the two highest categories of body shape at age 10 had both higher prevalence (OR=2.59, 95% CI 1.46 to 4.61) and incidence (OR=2.01, 95% CI 1.08 to 3.71) of depression. Similar results were obtained for body shape at age 20 (OR=3.43 for prevalence and OR=2.03 for incidence) and for body mass index (BMI) at age 18 (OR=2.92 for BMI ≥ 40 kg/m(2)). These associations remained significant after adjustment for multiple confounders. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that childhood-adolescence obesity is a strong and independent risk factor for adult depression.