Exploring the role of Obesity on Psychological Health amongst Children:

Abstract

Background: Multifarious articles have investigated the association between obesity and psychological health amongst children. Nonetheless, the literature has mixed results. On the one hand, the majority of studies indicate that obese children would face psychological health problems, less common studies found no association between obesity and mental health. This study aims to systematically review peer reviewed articles that are relevant to obesity and psychological health. As such, critical appraisal of the included studies will be done in order to explain the role of obesity and its association with psychological health amongst children. Methodology: The data were gathered from two datasets (i.e. PubMed and Google Scholar). Inclusion criteria are related to studies, type, language, and date of publication, full text availability, species (i.e. human) and participants’ age. As such, meta-analysis, systematic review, randomized control trails, cohort studies, and case control studies were included. Also, this research included studies that are publicised in English language. Moreover, date of publication is between 2008 and 2018, and only studies that examined children under 19 years old were considered. Exclusion criteria involved all articles that examined pregnant women who are under 19 years old. Also, it excluded children who take medicines that affect their weight such as corticosteroids.