How the anxious and depressed pile on the pounds
Thursday October 8th, 2009
People who are anxious and depressed face a hugely increased risk of becoming obese, researchers warned yesterday.
Depression, anxiety, and similar conditions can make it twice as likely that an individual will become obese, say Professor Mika Kivimaki of University College London, UK, and colleagues on the website of the British Medical Journal.
Researchers called for doctors and health workers to develop new "lifestyle interventions" to help people fight the temptation to put on weight.
The team used figures from the Whitehall II study of London civil servants, in which 4,363 men and women were assessed for common mental disorders and obesity at four screenings over 19 years.
Risk of obesity at the end of the study was raised by 33 per cent for people with a common mental disorder at one screening, 64 per cent at two screenings, and doubled for a mental disorder at three screenings.
In contrast to earlier findings, obesity was not found to be a risk factor for future mental disorders.
The authors conclude: "These findings suggest that in British adults the direction of association between common mental disorders and obesity is from common mental disorder to increased future risk of obesity.
"People with chronic or repeat episodes of common mental disorder are particularly at risk of weight gain."
However, in an editorial, Dr Evan Atlantis and colleagues from the University of Adelaide, Australia, state: "Clinicians should be aware that the association can occur in both directions."
The link was not seen here due to the method used, they believe.
"Further research on how best to deliver lifestyle interventions is needed, along with government action on taxes, tariffs, and trade laws to encourage the supply and consumption of healthy food and physical activity choices," they conclude.
Kivimaki, M. et al. Obesity and depression or anxiety. The British Medical Journal, 2009;339:b3765.
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