Depression raises stress hormone levels in teenaged boys and girls but may lead to obesity only in girls, says a new study .

Early treatment of depression could help reduce stress and control obesity- a major health issue.

“This is the first time cortisol reactivity has been identified as a mediator between depressed mood and obesity in girls,” said Elizabeth J Susman, professor of bio-behavioural health at Penn State University (PSU).

“We really haven’t seen this connection in kids before, but it tells us that there are biological risk factors that are similar for obesity and depression,” Susman added.

Cortisol, a 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,” said Susman.

If depression were to be treated earlier, she noted, it could help reduce the level of cortisol, and thereby help reduce obesity.

“We know stress is a critical factor in many mental and physical health problems,” said Susman. “We are putting together the biology of stress, emotions and a clinical disorder to better understand a major public health problem.”

Susman and her colleagues Lorah D Dorn, professor of paediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre and Samantha Dockray, postdoctoral fellow, University College London, 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, says a PSU release.

Statistical analyses of the data suggest 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.

The team reported its findings in a recent issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

The National Institutes of Health supported this work.
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