The relationship between adiposity and depressive symptoms in racially and ethnically diverse early adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between adiposity and depressive symptoms in ethnically and racially diverse early adolescents, age 11-14 years old.

The design was a cross-sectional observational study, with 78 participants from two middle schools in the southeast. Height, weight, and waist circumference were measured, and body fat percentage (BF%) was obtained using a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) scale. Body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were calculated. Participants completed the Children's Depression Inventory II (CDI-2) measure. Estimates of effect size based on general multiple linear regression was used to assess the association between adiposity and depressive symptoms, controlling for gender, puberty, and physical activity.

Increased adiposity was associated with decreased depressive symptoms in the context of racially and ethnically diverse early adolescents, with a large effect size (ω² = 0.14, 95% CI = 0.03, 1.00) between depressive symptoms and BMI category, and small effect sizes for the associations for WHtR (ω² = 0.02, 95% CI = 0.00, 1.00) and BF% (ω² = 0.01, 95% CI = 0.00, 1.00) with depressive symptoms.

Our findings indicate an inverse association between adiposity and depressive symptoms among early adolescents, which contrasts with many prior studies and underscores the complexity of the relationship between adiposity and mental health during this developmental period. Given the pilot nature of the study and the small sample size, these findings should be interpreted cautiously and warrant confirmation in fully powered studies that include diverse populations across racial and ethnic groups.

Greater attention should be paid to overweight and obesity status, and improved screening for depression should be implemented.