Grant: CIHR Fellowship

A large population of adolescents in Ontario are at an increased risk of gaining unhealthy weight and/or experiencing depressive symptoms. Furthermore, research has also shown that having depressive symptoms may lead to gaining unhealthy weight and vice versa. Various individual characteristics have been linked with the reciprocal relationship of these two conditions. However, there is little knowledge on how an individual's living environment may impact the risk of developing these two conditions in succession. Income inequality, which refers to how income is unevenly distributed within a community, has been found to affect the physical health and well being of many adolescents in various ways. One of the ways in which income inequality affects health is through the disruption of public health services and budgetary allocation process for these services. Therefore, there is a likelihood that through impaired public health programs, income inequality may also increase the chances of adolescents being obese and then developing depression or vice versa. This research uses a unique approach called path analysis, known to demonstrate how a sequence of factors may lead to occurrences of a disease(s). The study will utilize data from the Cannabis, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol, Smoking, and Sedentary behavior (COMPASS) project that was collected among school going adolescents in Canada. Additionally, data from Ontario Public Health Information Database (OPHID) and Canada census will be used to obtained information on public health programs and income inequality, respectively. These three datasets will be combined for the analysis. The study will also analyze how income inequality impacts the development of obesity and depression in different populations, including adolescent males and females. This research will assist policy makers and health professionals to develop strategies than can be used to prevent obesity and depression among adolescents.