What Comes First...Obesity Or Depression

obese individuals often suffer from low self-esteem

Ukmedix News has already written quite a bit on the link between obesity and clinical depression but a new study which we recently came across has tried to identify whether it is the obesity or the depression which comes first. Is it that obese people are depressed because of their obesity, or is it that depression causes them to become obese?

The research which was done by Leiden University Medical Center based in the Netherlands couldn't come up with a conclusive answer and they speculated that obesity and oppression were a 2 way street with each one of them having a significant impact on the other.

Professor Floriana Luppino along with her research team looked at almost 3,000 individual reports into obesity and depression and focused specifically on fifteen in depth studies which examined almost 60,000 patients. They concluded that those men and women who were already overweight or obese had a statistically higher likelihood of being clinically depressed and also that those men and women who were clinically depressed had an increased likelihood of ending up becoming obese.

Professor Luppino said that she was not surprised by the results of the study because obese individuals often suffer from low self-esteem and dissatisfaction with their body shapes which can lead to depression. She noted that the link was especially pronounced in western countries where the media ideal of being very thin ostracised obese individuals even more.

Professor Luppino pointed out that her research should encourage doctors to see depression and obesity as being very much related and to be aware that treatments for one of the conditions could have a significant impact on the other. One of the best ways of alleviating both depression and obesity is to take regular exercise.

The research was published by the medical journal, the Archives of General Psychiatry.