Depression and Eating Disorders in Children with Type 1 Diabetes

Abstract

Objective: This study investigates depression and eating disorders in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) and aims to determine the associated factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 149 children with type 1 DM aged 10-17 years. The Children's Depression Inventory and Diabetes Eating Problem Survey-Revised were administered, anthropometric measurements were taken, and certain biochemical results were evaluated. Results: The mean age of the children was 13.42 +/- 2.31 years. The children who did not use carbohydrate counting had higher depression scores and lower eating disorder scores than those who did and depression and eating disorder scores were lower in children who used insulin pumps than in those who did not. A one unit increase in the children's HbAlc levels caused a three unit increase in eating disorder scores and 1.3 times greater risk of depression. Conclusions: Nutritional, biochemical and psychiatric evaluation, and monitoring are recommended when providing diabetes control among children.