Obesity raises the risk of depression and having depressive moods may lead to obesity, says a new study published in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Obesity is referred to the abnormal accumulation of body fat that leads to a body weight much higher than the healthy weight. The amount of fat is much more than the body mass of the lean muscles of the obese individual. Lack of physical activity, diet which is more on carbohydrates and fat helps increase body weight and may lead to health disorders like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart diseases. But it may also lead to depressive moods in obese where people may become conscious about their changed body image and suffer from low self esteem.
Depression, a mental disorder is characterized by low mood and lack of interest in any activity that the person might enjoy. While obesity is on rise in India, it can easily trigger low self esteem. Criticized highly about physical appearances can lead to depressive moods in people.
People today are considered to be more vulnerable to both obesity and depression. both are possible risk factors of cardio vascular diseases and need to examine the potential link between the two has been felt.
Floriana S Luppino, MD, of Leiden University Medical Center and GGZ Rivierduinen, Leiden, the Netherlands, and colleagues analyzed the results of 15 previously published studies involving 58,745 participants that examined the longitudinal (over time) relationship between depression and overweight or obesity.
Obese persons were found to be at 55 percent increased risk of developing depression over time while depressed person had 58 percent chances of becoming obese. The association between depression and obesity was stronger than the association between depression and overweight, which reflects a dose-response gradient.
The risk of depression is linked with obesity through the concept of self image while depression may lead to an increase in body weight through interference with the endocrine system or the adverse effects of antidepressant medication.
The findings will help in clinical practice of the doctors who treat the depressive moods of the obese people and also depressed people who take up eating unconsciously to help themselves.
This awareness could lead to prevention, early detection and co-treatment for the ones at risk, which could ultimately reduce the burden of both conditions
