The Association between the Depression and the Perception of Obesity by Adolescent Girls / 대한내분비학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to find the association between the depression and perception of obesity by adolescent girls in Jung Eup City, Chollapukdo. The data were collected by questionnaire from July to October, 1996. RESULTS: 1. While the obesity rate of the girls by BMI criteria was 6.0%, 41.1% of girls perceived that they were obese. 2. Forty-eight percent of respondents tried weight control already, and as the method of weight control 33.3% tried exercise, 27.2% reduced food, 23.6% avoided snack before going to bed. 3. while 39.3% among those whose BMI was lower than 20 and 54.2% among those with BMI 20-24 tried weight control, only 5.1% among those who perceived their bodies as slim tried weight control. 4. By the analysis of self-rating depression scale (SDS) only 14.8% was normal without depression and the rest showed high SDS scale; 36.9% as mild, 38.5% as moderate, and 9.7% as severe state of depression. 5. While no statistically significant difference of SDS scores by the size of BMI was shown, significant different of SDS scores was shown among groups with different perception of their obesity and practice of weight control. 6. As a result of stepwise multiple regression analysis, dieting, perceived body image, and body mass index were significantly associated with depression of the adolescent girls. CONCLUSION: Adolescent girls who perceived themselves overweight regardless of actual weight were more likely to diet than other girls. And these characteristics had an influence on the depression of the adolescents. It is suggested that appropriate education should be required to prevent thoughtless weight control of the adolescents and to maintain mental health of the adolescents.