Psychological Functioning in Adolescents with Obesity Co-Morbidities

Background: An understanding of the relationships among obesity severity, medical co-morbidities, and psychological complications is important in the design of interventions to encourage overweight youth and families to accomplish healthy lifestyle changes. Methods: We evaluated associations among psychological status, diagnosed medical co-morbidities consistent with components of the metabolic syndrome, and BMI among 166 obese adolescents (11-18 years) referred for endocrinology consultation. We hypothesized that there would be higher levels of psychological distress among youth with more diagnosed components of the metabolic syndrome (i.e., more medical co-morbidities associated with obesity). Results: Contrary to expectation, we found that meeting criteria for extreme obesity alone was more predictive of psychological difficulties. Conclusions: The degree of obesity may be more relevant than the number of associated medical co-morbidities in impacting psychological health. It is important to recognize individual differences between patients in terms of identifying motivating goals for accomplishing weight management.