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09:36
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Adolescent suicidal behavior across the excess weight status spectrum.
Meg H Zeller1, Jennifer Reiter-Purtill, Todd M Jenkins
1Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. meg.zeller@cchmc.org
Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)
|June 21, 2013
Summary
Adolescent obesity is linked to increased suicidal ideation, especially when weight perception is accurate. Suicide attempt risks varied by weight status, perception accuracy, and race.
Area of Science:
- Adolescent Health
- Mental Health Research
- Obesity Studies
Background:
- Understanding the relationship between weight status and adolescent mental health is crucial for targeted interventions.
- Previous research indicates potential links between body weight and psychological well-being, but nuances require further exploration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between overweight, obesity, extreme obesity, and suicidal behaviors (ideation, attempts) in adolescents.
- To examine how accurate or inaccurate weight perception interacts with actual weight status to influence suicidal risks.
Main Methods:
- A combined variable of weight status (based on BMI) and weight perception accuracy was created.
- Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate odds-ratios and confidence intervals for suicidal ideation and attempts.
- Covariates included gender, age, race, survey year, and history of sadness/hopelessness.
Main Results:
- Weight perception accuracy increased with higher degrees of excess weight.
- Obese and extremely obese adolescents had significantly higher risks of suicidal ideation compared to healthy-weight peers.
- Accurate weight perception in adolescents with excess weight was strongly associated with increased suicidal ideation risk.
Conclusions:
- Findings highlight the clinical relevance of considering the full spectrum of weight status, including extreme obesity, in adolescent mental health.
- Accurate self-perception of weight, particularly in obese adolescents, is a significant risk factor for suicidal ideation.
- Future research should incorporate detailed weight categorization and perception accuracy to refine suicide prevention strategies.
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