Associations of physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake with well-being and depressive symptoms among obese schoolchildren in Wuhan, China: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing and psychological disorder is a common comorbidity of obesity. We investigated the associations of physical activity (PA) and fruit and vegetable (FV) intake with well-being and depressive symptoms among obese schoolchildren. METHODS: Participants included 188 obese children aged 9.8 ± 0.7 years living in Wuhan, China. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect the children’s PA and FV intake information. PA was considered to be high if the child participated in sport and/or vigorous free play at least 3 days per week with 60 min per day, while sufficient FV intake was defined as consuming FV 5 times per day. Children’s well-being and depressive symptoms were assessed by standard questionnaires. Multiple logistic regression was performed to determine the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the relationships of PA and FV intake with well-being and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: High PA and sufficient FV intake were independently associated with significantly decreased risks for depressive symptoms (for PA, OR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.16–0.92; for FV, OR: 0.21, 95% CI: 0.08–0.55) and poor well-being (for PA, OR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.16–0.74), respectively. Furthermore, interactive inverse associations were observed between combined high PA and sufficient FV intake with poor well-being and depressive symptoms. Compared to their counterparts, children with high PA and sufficient FV intake had significantly reduced risk for poor well-being (OR: 0.16, 95%CI: 0.05–0.55) and depressive symptoms (OR: 0.12, 95% CI: 0.03–0.48). CONCLUSIONS: High PA and sufficient FV intake are inversely associated with the risks of poor well-being and depressive symptoms among obese Chinese schoolchildren. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-5779-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.