It is not the biological consequences of excess weight that lead to an increased risk of depression in obese people but its psychological impact. This is demonstrated by a study carried out by Danish researchers.
Ten pounds of excess fat leads to a 17% increased risk of depression. This finding from a study conducted by researchers at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark confirms the psychological link with an increased risk of depression for people with obesity. But is this link exclusively psychological or can it be linked to biological parameters specific to obesity?
It is exclusively psychological, answers the Danish study published in the journal Translational Psychiatry which, because it clearly identifies “bad overweight” as the cause of this risk by reconsidering the importance of BMI (body mass index), brings a new look at the definition and management of obesity while it is considered that 40% of the adult world population is overweight today.
“Many athletes’ BMI should classify them as overweight!”
Previous studies on this link between overweight and depression had used BMI to measure obesity. However, this index is calculated solely on the basis of weight and height: in particular, it does not take into account the difference between muscle mass and fat mass. “Many high-level athletes with high muscle mass and low fat mass will have a BMI over 25, which by the common definition should classify them as overweight!”, Explains Dr. Ostergaard, author of the study.
The scientists therefore set out to measure the link between the risk of depression and not overweight as it is commonly defined, but fat mass. And this measure showed that people with fat mass located in the center of the body, the one that poses the most biological risk, did not have a higher risk of depression. Conclusion: the link between obesity and the risk of depression is indeed exclusively psychological, linked to self-image!
“Avoid doing more harm than good in the fight against obesity”
The research team draws two important lessons from the results of this study. The first is that the psychological component of obesity must be treated in the same way as its physical consequences such as diabetes or cardiovascular diseases. The second is that people with obesity should not be stigmatized, including through campaigns intended to combat this disease.”Since the psychological consequences of obesity, such as poor body image or low self-esteem, are the main factor in increasing the risk of depression, we must avoid doing more harm than good in the fight against the epidemic of obesity”, underlines Dr Ostegaard.
.
