RT Journal
A1 Kaplan KM
T1 WEight and happiness
JF Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
JO Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
YR 2001
FD April 1
VO 155
IS 4
SP 525
OP 526
DO 10.1001/archpedi.155.4.525
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.155.4.525
AB 
In their recent report on body mass index (BMI), depressive symptoms, and overweight concerns in a group of third-grade children in northern California, Erickson and colleagues1 were somewhat cautious in their conclusions but pointed to a "modest association between depressive symptoms and BMI" in girls. The authors base their conclusion on a correlation between BMI and depressive symptoms of 0.14—hardly a correlation at all. Furthermore, as the authors note, the direction of causality in cross-sectional studies is difficult to determine.