Obesity can cause depression: study
New research strongly suggests that obesity can cause depression, even in the absence of other health issues associated with being overweight.
This research from the University of South Australia and the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom was published this month in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
In the study, 48,791 people who were diagnosed with or reported having depression were compared with a sample of 291,995 people from the general population as a control.
This control group of people were born between 1938 and 1971 and provided their genetic and medical information for research purposes to UK Biobank.
The researchers looked for rates of depression among people with genetic variants which are associated with higher body mass index (BMI), but overall good metabolic health.
A higher BMI was strongly associated with a higher chance of suffering from depression and this association was strongest in women.
A process called “Mendelian randomization” was used to separate the potential causes of higher BMI leading to depression.
The specific genes which led to people being heavier were associated with an increased rate of depression, despite not negatively impacting health in any other ways.
“We separated the psychological component of obesity from the impact of obesityrelated health problems using genes associated with higher body mass index (BMI), but with lower risk of diseases like diabetes. These genes were just as strongly associated with depression as those genes associated with higher BMI and diabetes.
“This suggests that being overweight causes depression both with and without related health issues — particularly in women,” said professor Elina Hyppönen, the study’s co-lead.
While the exact mechanism of how being overweight causes depression is not clear, the results of this study lend strong evidence to the psychological impact of overweight leading to depression in some cases.
This study’s authors concluded that people who are overweight, even if they are otherwise healthy, are more likely to develop depression.
“Our research shows that being overweight doesn't just increase the risks of chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, it can also lead to depression,” said Hyppönen.
You can learn more about these research findings by reading the free journal article online at dx.doi.org/10.1093/ije/ dyy223.
Refining nutrition, physical activity and stress management are pivotal factors in maintaining a healthy body weight, metabolic health as well as mental health.
Do you need help achieving your health goals? Ask your naturopathic doctor.