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Sexual abuse linked to obesity in children, teens with mental illnesses

Researchers reported that a history of sexual abuse increased the risk for obesity among children and adolescents who had significant psychiatric illnesses.

“Considering that children with mental illness are already at risk for weight problems and will continue to be at increased risk as they move toward adulthood, recognition of this association is important to consider when clinicians are developing appropriate treatment plans or are evaluating potential adverse effects from current treatment regimens,” Brooks R. Keeshin, MD, with the Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, said in an interview.

 

Brooks R. Keeshin

Keeshin and colleagues analyzed medical charts of 1,434 youth admitted to a Midwestern inpatient psychiatric facility during a 10-month period. The researchers compared rates of physical and sexual abuse in youth with a normal BMI percentile and youth whose BMI percentiles were greater than 85, which in the study was considered to be overweight or obese.

Of the entire cohort, 14.7% reported physical abuse, 16.6% reported sexual abuse and 5.4% reported both.

Controlling for age, race, gender and antipsychotic treatment, Keeshin and colleagues found that youth who reported a history of sexual abuse were at greater odds of being overweight/obese (BMI percentiles 85 to 99) than having a healthy BMI (adjusted OR=1.41; 95% CI, 1.01-1.98). Physical abuse was not associated with an increase in BMI percentile.

Female gender and antipsychotic use were associated with overweight/obesity, although fewer girls (29.2%) than boys (38.6%) were prescribed antipsychotic medication. The researchers said being prescribed antipsychotics was the only significant predictor of “significant obesity,” defined as a BMI percentile greater than 99 (aOR=2.59; 95% CI, 1.57-4.28).

“These data suggest that, in youth with a significant mental illness, sexual abuse is significantly and independently associated with obesity, a finding that may prompt increased attention to weight gain by pediatricians who care for youth with a history of sexual abuse and suffer from mental illness,” the researchers concluded.

Disclosure: See the study for a full list of financial disclosures.