Is There a Relationship Between Overweight and Obesity and Mental Health Problems in 4- to 5-Year-Old Australian Children?

Sawyer, Michael G.; Miller-Lewis, Lauren; Guy, Sophie; Wake, Melissa; Canterford, Louise; Carlin, John B.

doi:10.1016/j.ambp.2006.08.005

« Previous Next »Ambulatory Pediatrics
Volume 6, Issue 6 , Pages 306-311, 1 November 2006

Is There a Relationship Between Overweight and Obesity and Mental Health Problems in 4- to 5-Year-Old Australian Children?

Michael G. Sawyer, MBBS, PhD
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
- Research and Evaluation Unit, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service Adelaide, Australia
- Address correspondence to Michael G. Sawyer, MBBS, PhD, Research and Evaluation Unit, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service, 72 King William Rd, North Adelaide, SA, 5006, Australia
Lauren Miller-Lewis, PhD
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
- Research and Evaluation Unit, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service Adelaide, Australia
Sophie Guy, BPsych(Hons)
- Research and Evaluation Unit, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service Adelaide, Australia
Melissa Wake, MBChB, MD
- Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, Australia
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Melbourne, Australia
Louise Canterford, BSc(Hons)
- Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, Australia
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Melbourne, Australia
John B. Carlin, PhD
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Melbourne, Australia
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Received 2 June 2006; accepted 21 August 2006.

Objective

To investigate the relationship between overweight and obesity, and mental health problems in Australian 4- to 5-year-old children.

Methods

The study used data from wave 1 (2004) of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). The participants were 4983 4- to 5-year-old children (2537 boys and 2446 girls) with a mean age of 56.9 months (standard deviation 2.6 months; range 51–67 months). Children were classified as nonoverweight, overweight, and obese on the basis of International Obesity Task Force definitions. Mental health problems were assessed by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) completed by parents and teachers.

Results

Although obese 4- to 5-year-old boys had more mental health problems than nonoverweight boys, differences between the groups were small and substantially reduced when analyses controlled for children’s sociodemographic characteristics. Parents reported that overweight/obese girls had more peer problems, whereas teachers reported they had more conduct problems. Children in all weight groups had mean scores within the normal range of scores on all the SDQ subscales.

Conclusions

Differences in rates of mental health problems experienced by young children of different weight status appear relatively small. Higher rates of mental health problems experienced by more obese boys may reflect differences in their sociodemographic characteristics rather than their weight status per se. Policies that reduce the number of young children living in poverty or experiencing other adverse social circumstances have the potential to reduce rates of mental health problems experienced by older children with overweight/obesity.

Key words: mental health, obesity, overweight, preschool children