ESPE Abstracts

Background: Emotional disorders are serious complications in obese children. Dopamine is known to be one of the neurotransmitters, which is in charge of such conditions.

Aim: To determine neuroendocrine and psychological status in obese children.

Methods: We examined 296 children in the Endocrinological Department of University Hospital (Minsk); group 1 – 206 obese children (simple obesity: 14.35±2 years; BMI 30.8±2.5 kg/m², morbid: 15.6±1.6 years; and BMI 39.7±4.3 kg/m²), group 2 – 90 normal-weight controls (BMI 20.5±1.47 kg/m² (P=0.0001), 14.5±1.5 years (P=0.6)). We examined patient’s levels of plasma dopamine (D); all children and parents underwent psychological testing: Children Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (ChEDE-Q), Depression Self-Rating Scale (DSRS), and Child Behavior checklist (CBCL).

Results: The reliable increasing of D levels were noted in all children with obesity in comparison with normal-weight controls (median (Me) D in simple obesity 12.1 ng/ml; morbid 61.1 ng/ml; and control 5.96 ng/ml) ((ps-c=0.012), (pm-c=0.0001), and (pm-s=0.009)).

The reliable differences on CBCL testing were in obese children vs controls – anxious and depressive scale (P=0.002), impulsiveness scale (P=0.009), estrangement scale (P=0.0001), and attention deficiency scale (P=0.001). The frequency of depressive disorders were in 18.1% obese children. The severity of depressive symptoms didn’t correlate with BMI. Clinical depression correlated with compulsive symptoms severity (P=0.02). Binge eating (BE) disorders were diagnosed in 20% obese (P=0.016). The reliable difference between BE and age, gender, and BMI didn’t noted (P=0.3–0.06). We can say with the probability of 99% (P=0.002 and 0.004) that compulsive mechanisms of BE in obese children are determined with the presence of emotional disorders (anxious and depressive symptoms and estrangement).

Conclusions: The increase in the frequency of psychological and behavioral disorders were noted in all obese children comparison with normal-weight control. The reliable excess of D levels in obese children can show violations in binding to the dopamine receptors and impaired utilization.