Good Mental Health at 11 Associated With Reversing Obesity by 17, Says Study

Good mental health at the age of 11 is associated with increased odds of overweight and obesity reversal by the age of 17, a study had concluded. The study into children transitioning into healthy weights, by the University of Liverpool and Ireland’s Maynooth University, was published on Tuesday in the journal Obesity. It examined the records of 8,000 British overweight or obese children. Researchers analysed data from 4,556 children aged 11 and 3,791 14-year-olds and followed up on their progress at 17 years old. Those with better psychological wellbeing at 11—but not 14—were more associated with attaining a healthy body weight by 17. The study said this suggests that late childhood and early adolescence—around the age of 11—”may be a sensitive period in which psychological wellbeing has a pronounced prospective relationship with body weight trajectories.”...