6.107 PREDICTORS OF RISK FOR DEPRESSION IN OBESE AND OVERWEIGHT MEXICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Objectives: The relationship between excess body weight and depression has been well established, with evidence that female gender and dysregulation of cytokines are risk factors for depression. However, to-date the majority of studies are cross-sectional and with adult samples. A prospective approach is required to understand the potential contributions of these factors. Methods: As part of the Cameron County Cohort, we recruited and assessed n= 151, children and adolescents, 68 males and 83 females, mean age 12.85 sd + 2.78. All subjects completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale and anthropomorphic measures. Body-mass-index (BMI) was calculated based on measured height and weight and the categories for overweight and obesity were defined using the CDC cutoffs of: > 85th and > 95th percentile for age and sex in pediatric populations respectively. In a subset n = 62 we had cytokine data (Leptin, Il-1 B, IL-8, Il-6, TNFa). For our whole sample we compared normal weight n = 73, overweight n =35, and obese n = 43. As we lacked cytokine measures on the whole sample, we analyzed these data comparing normal weight subjects (n = 32) to the obese and overweight (OB-OW) combined (n=32). This study was approved by Committee for the Projection of Human Subjects at UT Health. Results: At baseline 23.5 percent of our total sample is overweight and 28.5 percent are obese. Although we did not see a significant effect of weight on depression scores, we did note a significant weight by sex interaction (F6, 144 = 3.79, p = 0.025) with obese females having the highest depression scores. Of our cytokines only leptin was elevated in the OB-OW group F 2,59 = 35.37, p < 0.001. Including depression scores in the model revealed a significant depression score by OB-OW interaction for increased leptin F 6,55 = 6.76, p = 0.01. Conclusions: We found a significant relationship between depression and obesity that was associated with female gender. We also found that increased weight both exclusively and mediated by higher depression scores was associated with increased leptin. Our findings support the greater risk for depression noted in female adolescents and are cosistent with evidence that leptin resistance may play a role in the emergence of depression.