Original Article

International Journal of Obesity (2008) 32, 558–566; doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803736; published online 25 September 2007

Obesity and psychopathology in women: a three decade prospective study

S Kasen1,2, P Cohen1,2, H Chen1,2 and A Must3

  1. 1Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
  2. 2Department of Epidemiology, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
  3. 3Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

Correspondence: Dr S Kasen, Department of Epidemiology—Unit 47, New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, USA. E-mail: sk57@columbia.edu

Received 11 December 2006; Revised 7 July 2007; Accepted 17 August 2007; Published online 25 September 2007.

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Abstract

Objective:

 

To evaluate prospective associations between elevations in body mass index (BMI) at average age 27 and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) at average age 59 in a community sample of women.

Design:

 

Three waves of data collected over three decades were drawn from mothers in the Children in the Community (CIC) Study. Binary logistic regression was used to estimate predictive effects of two BMI cutpoints (greater than or equal to30 and greater than or equal to25) on GAD and MDD independent of other risks for psychopathology.

Subjects:

 

The 544 mothers who were interviewed in the original wave of the CIC Study in 1975 and in the first and most recent follow-up waves in 1983 and 2002–2005.

Measurements:

 

Information about height and weight was obtained by self-report in face-to-face interviews. GAD and MDD were assessed by structured interview covering DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Other potential risk factors examined included age, race, education, prior depressive symptoms and marital status, chronic disease, social support and financial strain concurrent with GAD and MDD.

Results:

 

A baseline BMI greater than or equal to30 significantly increased the odds for subsequent GAD and MDD by 6.27 and 5.25 times, respectively, after adjusting for other significant risk factors. Odds of GAD also increased significantly given a baseline BMI greater than or equal to25 (by 2.44 times); however this association was not independent of other significant risk factors. Predictive associations between a baseline BMI greater than or equal to30 and MDD were not attenuated by attained BMI assessed at outcome.

Conclusion:

 

Findings extend existing evidence of the mental health consequences of obesity in a representative sample of mothers, and suggest that obesity may have long-term implications for mental distress in women at a clinical level over the adult years.

Keywords:

body mass index, anxiety, depression, longitudinal study, women

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