Good Mental Health at 11 Associated With Reversing Obesity by 17, Says Study

File photo of a child using a set of weighing scales dated Oct. 19, 2023. Chris Radburn/PA Wire

Good mental health at the age of 11 is associated with increased odds of overweight and obesity reversal by the age of 17, a study has concluded.

The study into children transitioning into healthy weights, by the University of Liverpool and Ireland’s Maynooth University, was published on Tuesday in the journal Obesity. It examined the records of 8,000 British overweight or obese children.

Researchers analysed data from 4,556 children aged 11 and 3,791 14-year-olds and followed up on their progress at 17 years old. Those with better psychological wellbeing at 11—but not 14—were more associated with attaining a healthy body weight by 17.

The study said this suggests that late childhood and early adolescence—around the age of 11—“may be a sensitive period in which psychological wellbeing has a pronounced prospective relationship with body weight trajectories.”

I Gusti Ngurah Edi Putra, the lead researcher on the study from Liverpool University’s Institute of Population Health, said this research is the first to show how psychological wellbeing, specifically at age 11, “plays an important role in explaining why some children transitioned into a healthy weight, but the others remained with overweight and obesity by age 17.”

“While further work needs to be done to understand why early adolescence is a critical point, we know this is a time in a child’s life when they may be experiencing change—moving up into high school for example. Integrating psychological support into current obesity prevention and treatment, particularly during an age-sensitive period may be important,” said Putra.

Mental Health and Weight

The study said that poor psychological wellbeing is already associated with an increased risk of becoming overweight or developing obesity. Bearing an unhealthy weight is also associated with future detrimental health outcomes, including cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer.

The report found that poor mental health, low self-esteem, and depressive symptoms are more prevalent among children who are overweight or obese.

Researchers said that behavioural responses to these mental health problems—such as reduced physical activity and unhealthy eating habits—“may then contribute to the persistence of overweight and obesity” in children.

“In addition, exposure to negative psychosocial stressors (e.g., weight stigma) in children with overweight or obesity may increase cortisol secretion, which causes fat accumulation,” the report said.

Professor Eric Robinson from the Institute of Population Health said, “We have known for some time that overweight and obesity are difficult to live with psychologically and these new findings align with other emerging evidence which suggest that as a society we need to be doing a much better job of supporting people with obesity if we are to ever make serious progress in reducing obesity.”

Children Getting Heavier, Shorter

According to NHS England’s most recent data on obesity, in 2022, 29 percent of adults were living with obesity, and nearly two-thirds (64 percent) were overweight or living with obesity.

Among children aged two to 15, the prevalence of obesity was 15 percent, with the proportion of children who were overweight or obese being 27 percent.

A separate report by the Food Foundation charity from June found that obesity levels in 10-and-11-year-olds have increased by 30 percent since 2006, while Type 2 diabetes in the under-25s has increased by 22 percent in the past five years.

The report also found that on average, children in the UK have been getting shorter since 2013, after being on an upward trajectory since 2000. While acknowledging that ethnicity plays a role in height, the report says data suggest the decline is more down to dietary deficiencies than to shifting demographics.

A January study involving Imperial College London researchers looking into the surge in childhood weight gain said that the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 10-and 11-year-olds alone could cost the NHS £800 million, with the cost to society being over £8.7 billion, including costs related to quality of life and reduced productivity.

The analysis showed that childhood obesity rocketed between 2019/2020 and 2020/2021—the COVID-19 pandemic years. Researchers put this down to the change in children’s activity and eating habits, with lockdown policies meaning that most children were being schooled from home and organised sports activities were unavailable.

Rachel Roberts contributed to this report.