BACKGROUND: An understanding of the relationships among obesity severity, medical co-morbidities, and psychological complications is important in the design of interventions to encourage overweight youth and families to accomplish healthy lifestyle changes. METHODS: We evaluated associations among psychological status, diagnosed medical co-morbidities consistent with components of the metabolic syndrome, and BMI among 166 obese adolescents (11-18 years) referred for endocrinology consultation. We hypothesized that there would be higher levels of psychological distress among youth with more diagnosed components of the metabolic syndrome (i.e., more medical co-morbidities associated with obesity). RESULTS: Contrary to expectation, we found that meeting criteria for extreme obesity alone was more predictive of psychological difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: The degree of obesity may be more relevant than the number of associated medical co-morbidities in impacting psychological health. It is important to recognize individual differences between patients in terms of identifying motivating goals for accomplishing weight management.
BACKGROUND: An understanding of the relationships among obesity severity, medical co-morbidities, and psychological complications is important in the design of interventions to encourage overweight youth and families to accomplish healthy lifestyle changes. METHODS: We evaluated associations among psychological status, diagnosed medical co-morbidities consistent with components of the metabolic syndrome, and BMI among 166 obese adolescents (11-18 years) referred for endocrinology consultation. We hypothesized that there would be higher levels of psychological distress among youth with more diagnosed components of the metabolic syndrome (i.e., more medical co-morbidities associated with obesity). RESULTS: Contrary to expectation, we found that meeting criteria for extreme obesity alone was more predictive of psychological difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: The degree of obesity may be more relevant than the number of associated medical co-morbidities in impacting psychological health. It is important to recognize individual differences between patients in terms of identifying motivating goals for accomplishing weight management.
Authors: Mary E Larkin; Natalie Walders-Abramson; Kathryn Hirst; Joyce Keady; Carolyn E Ievers-Landis; Elizabeth M Venditti; Patrice M Yasuda Journal: Diabetes Manag (Lond) Date: 2015-11
Authors: Jean Rankin; Lynsay Matthews; Stephen Cobley; Ahreum Han; Ross Sanders; Huw D Wiltshire; Julien S Baker Journal: Adolesc Health Med Ther Date: 2016-11-14
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Authors: Cristiana Berti; Shirin Elahi; Patrick Catalano; Zulfiqar A Bhutta; Michael B Krawinkel; Francesca Parisi; Carlo Agostoni; Irene Cetin; Mark Hanson Journal: Nutrients Date: 2022-08-28 Impact factor: 6.706