"We found that both boys and girls who were overweight from kindergarten through third grade displayed more depression, anxiety and loneliness than kids who were never overweight, and those negative feelings worsened over time," Professor Sara Gable wrote in the journal Applied Developmental Science, which published the study.
Young girls felt more negative impacts of being overweight than boys, Dr. Gable noted. "Teachers reported that (overweight) girls had less positive social relations and displayed less self-control and more acting out than girls who were never overweight," she wrote.
Dr. Gable and her colleagues took into consideration the age when the children became overweight, the length of time they were overweight, and their social and behavioral development.
Labels: childhood_obesity, depression, anxiety
Posted By: Aspen/CRC
