Body dissatisfaction at age 11 is linked to increased risk of depression by age 14, finds a new longitudinal study led by UCL researchers.
The findings, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, show that body image concerns explain a large proportion of an association between body mass index (BMI) and depression in children, particularly in girls.
The study, supported by Wellcome, involved 13,135 participants of the Millennium Cohort Study, a UCL-led nationally representative birth cohort study of people born between 2000 and 2002.
The researchers found that high BMI at age seven was linked with increased depressive symptoms (which can include low mood, loss of pleasure and poor concentration) by age 14, as well as with greater body dissatisfaction at age 11.
