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hilfigertout t1_j1n1h53 wrote

Reply to comment by Prudent_Cat_7651 in Childhood body mass index is unlikely to have a big impact on children's mood or behavioural disorders by giuliomagnifico

Why? This result may not line up with what you agree with, but what did this study do wrong?

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esperind t1_j1n8f06 wrote

because most other studies suggest the opposite, and it says as much in the first couple paragraphs of the article,

>Children with obesity are more likely to be diagnosed with depression,
anxiety, or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But the
nature of the relationship between obesity and these mental health
conditions is not clear. Obesity might contribute to mental health
symptoms, or vice versa.

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hilfigertout t1_j1n9jmf wrote

Good comments. Contradicting current research is always a red flag.

The paper does not dispute that children with obesity are more likely to be diagnosed with depression, though. That correlation is clear. The conclusion seemed to focus more on the causation aspect, suggesting that underlying environmental factors influence both mental health issues and obesity in a population. From the editor's notes:

> the study finds that previous estimates of the effect of BMI on childhood emotional and behavioural symptoms may have been overestimated due to confounding with the environment. Larger samples will be needed to determine whether there is a causal effect of BMI on childhood emotional or behavioural problems, and what size it is.

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Psychomadeye t1_j1pcf45 wrote

If you're smaller than other studies and have a result that's contrary to other current research, you've got to look at other variables pretty hard. If that's the data you have, then that's the data you have, but you've gotta explain why your study is getting different results. You should be saying, BMI correlates poorly to those outcomes in XYZ situation.

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hilfigertout t1_j1pnscw wrote

In the actual study they do exactly that.

The headline isn't doing any favors though.

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