Self-reported depressive symptoms in adolescence increase the risk for obesity and high BP in adulthood.

Background: Negative psychological symptoms may impact cardiovascular (CV) risk factors such as obesity and abnormal blood pressure (BP). Currently, a third of the US population is obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m ² ) and nearly half have high BP (BP > 120/80 mmHg). This research aims to investigate whether self-reported depressive symptoms in adolescence affect adulthood obesity and high BP.
Methods: We leveraged the data from a representative sample of US individuals collected by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). We identified the survey questions pertaining to self-reported depressive symptoms in over 14,000 adolescents. Based on their follow-up health test in adulthood, we evaluated the impact of adolescent depressive symptoms on adulthood obesity and high BP by adjusting for socio-demographic, socio-economic and adolescent health status.
Results: This study reveals a high prevalence of obesity (36%) and high BP (66%) among young US adults with an average age of only 28 years. Excessive moodiness in adolescence significantly impacted the development of obesity in early adulthood (p-value <0.001). 'Feeling sad' on most days in adolescence significantly increases the risk of obesity (p-value 0.01) and high BP (p-value <0.03) in early adulthood.
Conclusions: This study demonstrates self-reported moodiness in adolescence to be a significant predictor of obesity in adulthood. Feeling sad on most days increase the subsequent risk for high BP. Early intervention may improve lifestyle and CV outcomes.
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