# The Impact of Psychological Health on Childhood Obesity: A Cross-Developmental Stage Analysis
## 3 Results
### Insights into Pre-Adolescence (Ages 11-12)  
The analysis delved into the intricate connections between psychological measures and BMI categories among pre-adolescents aged 11-12. Our findings revealed a spectrum of correlation strengths, shedding light on how various psychological aspects may influence or reflect obesity risk in children. Notably, certain psychological factors such as attachment avoidance (\(-0.403\)) and Peer Problems (0.437) demonstrated noteworthy correlations with BMI categories. These results suggest a significant link, indicating that  
Figure 2: Average psychological scores by BMI Category for children aged 8–11. The figure displays the mean scores of Affect Dysregulation, Affect Suppression, and Adaptive Reflection for children in different BMI categories, with each bar denoting the average score for Healthy, Overweight, and Obese classifications. The number of participants in each category is annotated within the respective bars, offering an immediate visual comparison of the psychological attributes across the BMI spectrum. children experiencing difficulties in these areas might be at an increased risk of obesity. Additionally, the Emotional Problems Scale (0.398) and Internalizing score (0.416) exhibited strong correlations, pointing towards a potential association between emotional distress, internalizing behaviors, and variations in BMI. Conversely, certain measures, like Adaptive Reflection (\(-0.179\)) and Prosocial Scale (\(-0.135\)), showed negative correlations. This pattern hints at an interesting dynamic: higher capabilities in reflective thinking and prosocial behavior might correlate with healthier BMI categories, suggesting that these psychological strengths could play a protective role against obesity. Our comprehensive analysis extended to examining the interrelationships between a broad set of psychological variables and BMI categories, as visually represented in our heatmap (Figure 3). This visual aid highlights the Spearman correlation coefficients, offering a direct insight into the complex web of associations. The heatmap's color intensity variation--ranging from negative to positive correlations--emphasizes the strength of these relationships, facilitating a deeper understanding of how psychological factors intertwine with BMI categorizations. Despite the intriguing correlations observed, it is crucial to note that none reached statistical significance, with \(p\)-values ranging from 0.103 to 0.880. This outcome accentuates the complex interplay between psychological factors and BMI, suggesting a nuanced relationship that warrants further investigation. Particularly, the varied correlation strengths observed with the BMI Category Code underscore the multifaceted nature of obesity's psychological underpinnings. Our analysis, especially the significant negative correlation noted between Adaptive Reflection and Affect Suppression score, underscores the importance of emotional processing skills in childhood development and health. Figure 3: Heatmap of Spearman correlation coefficients for children aged 11–12. This heatmap visualizes the Spearman correlation coefficients among various psychological measures and BMI categories for children aged 11–12. Each square represents the correlation between the variables on the horizontal and vertical axes, with the color intensity and direction indicating the strength and nature of the correlation (red for positive, blue for negative). The lack of statistically significant correlations should not detract from the importance of these findings. Instead, it underscores the critical need for a multifaceted approach to addressing childhood obesity, one that incorporates a broad spectrum of psychological influences. The intricate relationships highlighted by our heatmap reinforce the necessity of considering psychological factors in the development of interventions aimed at combating obesity.