Early treatment of depression could help reduce stress and control obesity that is a major health issue in adolescents.
This is the first time cortisol reactivity has been identified as a mediator between depressed mood and obesity in girls, scientists say, adding that this connection was seen in kids before, but it is now clear that there are biological risk factors that are similar for obesity and depression.
Cortisol hormone regulates various metabolic functions in the body and is released as a reaction to stress. Researchers have long known that depression and cortisol are related to obesity, but they had not figured out the exact biological mechanism. Although it is not clear why high cortisol reactions translate into obesity only for girls, scientists believe it may be due to physiological and behavioural differences - oestrogen release and stress eating in girls - in the way the two genders cope with anxiety.
The implications are to start treating depression early because we know that depression, cortisol and obesity are related in adults. If depression were to be treated earlier it could help reduce the level of cortisol, and thereby help reduce obesity.
It is known that stress is a critical factor in many mental and physical health problems; now scientists are putting together the biology of stress, emotions and a clinical disorder to better understand a major public health problem.
The researchers used a child behaviour checklist to assess 111 boys and girls ages 8 to 13 for symptoms of depression. Next they measured the children's obesity and the level of cortisol in their saliva before and after various stress tests. Statistical analyses of the data suggested that depression is associated with spikes in cortisol levels for boys and girls after the stress tests, but higher cortisol reactions to stress are associated with obesity only in girls.
In these children, it was mainly the peak in cortisol that was related to obesity...it was how they reacted to an immediate stress.
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