Abstract
PurposeSome mental illnesses have been suggested to be associated with obesity, although results are somewhat inconsistent and research has focused mainly on depression.MethodsAssociations between anxiety, depression, medications for these illnesses, and obesity were investigated cross-sectionally among women aged 25–74 (n = 3004) who participated as population controls in a cancer case-control study. Participants self-reported information on anxiety, depression, height, current weight and weight at age 25.ResultsNo association was observed between either anxiety or depression and either current overweight or obesity status. However, depressed women taking antidepressants were more likely to be obese [OR = 1.71 (95%CI = 1.16–2.52) daily antidepressant use; OR = 1.89 (95%CI = 1.21–2.96) ever tricyclic antidepressant use]. In the full study sample consistent positive associations between anxiety, depression and obesity among women with a history of antidepressant use, and generally negative associations among women without, were suggested. Finally, weight gain was associated with history of anxiety [5–19 kg OR = 1.29 (95% CI = 1.06–1.57); ≥20 kg OR = 1.43 (95% CI = 1.08–1.88)] and depression [≥20 kg OR = 1.28 (95% CI = 0.99–1.65)].ConclusionsThese results suggest depression and anxiety may be associated with weight gain and antidepressant use may be associated with obesity.
Highlights
Obesity is a risk factor for several health conditions including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some types of cancer [1]
No associations were observed for history of anxiety, depression or anxiety and depression combined with either overweight or obesity (Table 2)
With age forced into the model, no other potential confounders changed the observed odds ratios by greater than 10% and were not included in the final multivariate model
Summary
Obesity is a risk factor for several health conditions including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some types of cancer [1]. Some epidemiologic evidence has suggested a relationship between several mental illnesses and obesity [6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26], other studies have not found similar associations [27,28,29,30,31]. Most prospective studies have focused on relationships between anxiety or depression in adolescence and obesity in either later adolescence [24,30,31,32] or early adulthood [18,19,20,21,22] with only a few examining adult depression and later obesity [12,25,26,33]. One recent review indicated only 8/15 prospective studies identified depression as a significant predictor of obesity [5], while another meta-analysis detected reciprocal relationships, where the association between depression and obesity development was marginally stronger [34]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
