How Is Children’s Weight Affected by Depression in Parents?

One factor in children’s weight that has not been talked about, that we will talk about today, is depression in parents of those children.

Physical wellbeing and mental health have been researched for a long time with results varying between which caused the other.

One study looked at genetics, metabolism, and mental health.

This study followed up with 394 individuals over several years to find out when do children and adolescences at familial risk for mood disorders begin to exhibit differences in body weight compared to their peers while not having a genetic predisposition.

They looked at whether genetic vulnerability to depression and bipolar disorder intersect with metabolic health and body weight.

They found that females 12 and over with the vulnerability to depression and bipolar disorder gained weight rapidly compared to their peers (without having the genetic predisposition to gain weight).

Males did not share this pattern.

Possible implications of this are targeted interventions and treatments and the idea that there might be a shared genetic factor.

Early intervention and prevention may help by identifying children with parents that have a history of mood disorders and working with them to improve their physical and mental health to prevent future psychiatric illnesses.

This calls for the need to empower youth by giving them information about this.

Understanding this correlation can lead to the creation of better interventions that target both physical and mental health.