What is the relationship between childhood depression, obesity and poor school performance among disadvantaged children?

Background: Despite the recent emergence of literature establishing the prevalence of childhood depression, research has failed to provide insight in its concomitant factors. While depression in adults has been associated with... [ view full abstract ]

Background: Despite the recent emergence of literature establishing the prevalence of childhood depression, research has failed to provide insight in its concomitant factors. While depression in adults has been associated with multiple negative correlates such as rumination, loss of interest in pleasurable activities, overeating, and lack of concentration, the picture for children is less clear. There is a suggestion that urban disadvantaged children may be more at risk and that obesity and school performance play a role in it, but how these variables interrelate is uncertain. The present study aims to address this issue.
Aims: The main aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between depression, obesity and school performance among urban disadvantaged children in Ireland.
Methods: This study makes use of a retrospective and longitudinal design. The data analysed come from a four year longitudinal health promotion programme in schools in urban disadvantaged areas. An additional 274 new pupils were recruited in 2013 from five schools that had participated in the previous year three longitudinal study. The previous study had 604 children recruited at baseline in 2009 and follow up at year 1 and year 2. Data collected included Body Mass Index (BMI), Child Depression Inventory, and indicators of school performance. These were analysed using mediation analyses. The purpose of the mediation analysis was to investigate the mediating role of BMI in the relationship between depression and school performance. This study received ethical approval from the researcher’s university.
Results: The year four findings suggest that BMI does neither have a significant mediational effect on the relationship between depression and reading (b = -.0010, BCa CI [-.0070, .0053]) nor between depression and maths (b = -.0003, BCa CI [-.0063, .0089]). However, increases in depression scores were associated with increases in BMI (b = .1006, p = .0002).
Conclusion: The findings suggest a direct association between depression and obesity. The implications of this association need to be incorporated in the implementation of future health promotion interventions and within community health practice.