Study links mental disorders to obesity
POSTED October 9, 2009 - 17:55 | POSTED BY Pankhuri Kapoor
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on October 9, 2009 - 18:29
The team of researchers from the University College of London analyzed 4363 government workers between the age group of 35 to 55 years for 20 years duration, to find and establish a link between mental stress and obesity.
Physical examinations that included weight, height and body mass index and mental health of each of the participants were evaluated during the start of the study and at three other time points over an average follow-up of 19 years.
They observed that people who showed symptoms of any mental disorder were twice more likely to become obese with time than those who reported no disorders.
Mika Kivimaki, lead researcher of the present study, says, “We started with people who were not obese. The more times mental health symptoms were reported, the greater the risk for becoming obese by the end of the study. This points to a dose-response association between mental disorders and weight gain.”
Link between stress and weight-gain
“There are very plausible reasons why depression could increase the risk for obesity and very plausible reasons why obesity could increase the risk for depression. I think it is likely that both of these things are happening,” says Gregory E Simon, a psychiatrist.
“Obesity is the norm with depression, so it is pretty hard to separate the two. It is akin to saying that people who are depressed have more marital problems and people with more marital problems have more depression. You would need a pretty sharp knife to separate the two,” he adds.
It may be noted that obesity and depression are the leading cause of many serious chronic illnesses and are prevalent throughout the world.
Depressed people give in to comfort foods to relieve themselves and also suffer from lower energy levels than normal people. This leads to lesser physical activity, which, in turn, invites obesity.
Need for more work
The exact reasons for how depression can lead to obesity have not been derived as part of the present study, but researchers assume that hormonal imbalance and improper diet may be some factors that result in weight gain.
The researchers recommend more research on the link between the two for better understanding of prevention and treatment for the same.
The research and its findings have been published in the online edition of the October edition of the British Medical Journal, BMJ.
