Women, obesity and depression – what is the link?

Adding to the burden of depression in women, study finds out that obesity or even being overweight in adolescence can be a trigger for the same in adulthood.

By: Debjani Arora | | Published: August 12, 2018 10:05 am

According to 2015 WHO report five crore Indians suffer from depression and over 3 crore from an anxiety disorder, the numbers itself speaks volumes about our countrymen’s abysmal mental health state. In fact, women outnumber men when it comes to mental health problems and even the rates of suicide and attempted-suicide is more among women than men. Needless to say that women need attention to safeguard their mental health and avert any unpleasant consequence that might arise due to neglect. Adding to the burden of depression and mental health menace a new study pointed out that obese girls are more likely to develop depression during childhood and adolescence than their peers who weigh less. Also Read - Anxiety and depression symptoms higher in women than men during Covid-19 isolation

In fact, the study found that 44 percent of adolescent obese girls were likely to be diagnosed with depression in the future as compared to girls with a healthy BMI. This was concluded after an analysis of 22 studies with a total of 144,000. Also Read - Women with PTSD and depression are at high risk of dying: 5 exercises to ease depression

However, overweight girls were ruled out to face such complications in the future, it was only obesity that triggered this debacle of mental health. The study also concluded that boys and girls have different perceptions of body image and this can greatly affect their mental health and social conditioning. The researchers also felt that there could be a number of factors that could lead to depression in women but body image issues perpetuated and amplified by social media cannot be ignored. This is why girls who feel dissatisfied about them develop symptoms of depression, however, overweight or obese boys might think differently about their size. In fact, for boys larger size might be a reflection of strength and dominance, traits that are likely to be desirable during childhood. Also Read - Depression: Why are women more prone to it?

Globally, more than 40 million children are overweight or obese by the time they’re 5 years old, according to the World Health Organization. Depression is also a leading cause of reduced quality of life for children, impacting school performance, friendships and the risk of substance use and other risky behaviours, researchers note in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

While previous research has linked childhood obesity to an increased risk of depression, results have been mixed and the estimated excess risk has ranged from as low as 4 percent to as high as 64 percent, researchers note. In the current analysis, children were 14 years old on average and almost 16 percent were obese. Slightly more than one in 10 obese children was depressed. However, the reverse that depression triggers obesity is also true. The two conditions are so closely linked that it is difficult to say which one is the bigger culprit. However, experts believe that parents of adolescents should keep the depression risk in mind when they ask their kids to go on a diet to control obesity. The approach to weight loss should be a holistic and happy goal.

Forcing kids to go on diets that make them unhappy can have an impact on their mental health. It is imperative that with obese girls (or even boys) parents have a positive talk about body image supplementing it with right eating habits and good health practices rather than talking negatively about body image issues. This might help to cut down the lard and boost positivism in kids.

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Published : August 12, 2018 10:05 am

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