ABSTRACT

Objectives

In our study, it was aimed to investigate the frequency and distribution of psychiatric disorders in adolescents with overweight/obesity, and to compare psychiatric distribution with adolescents with normal weight.

Materials and Methods

One hundred six adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years, who applied to the Pediatric Endocrinology Department of Süleyman Demirel University Hospital and who were diagnosed as overweight or obesity by an endocrinology specialist, were included in the study. The control group included 50 subjects who volunteered to participate in the study and were similar in age and gender to the study group and who did not receive any psychiatric treatment with a Body Mass index percentile below 85. Psychiatric evaluation was done using the Kiddie-schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia-present and lifetime version.

Results

Seventy (66%) of overweight/obesity cases received at least one, and 41 (38,7%) received two or more psychiatric diagnoses. The most common psychiatric disorders in the overweight/obesity group were attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (n=42, 39.6%), specific phobia (n=25, 23.6%) and social anxiety disorder (n=22, 20.8%), respectively. The diagnosis of ADHD (c2=16.340, p<0.001), social anxiety disorder (c2=9.507, p=0.002) and generalized anxiety disorder (c2=3.978, p=0.046) were found to be higher in the group diagnosed with obesity.

Conclusion

In our study, it was found that psychiatric comorbidities, especially ADHD and social anxiety disorder, were high in overweight/obese adolescents. Our results suggest that adolescents diagnosed with overweight/obesity should necessarily undergo psychiatric evaluation.