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Extreme obesity is associated with attempted suicides: results from a family study

International Journal of Obesity volume 30, pages 388–390 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

This study was conducted to explore the association between attempted suicides and body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) in a family sample of 2547 individuals. As a comparison, a national NESARC (the 2001–2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions) sample of 41 589 individuals was included to validate the observed association. Compared to average weight, extreme obesity showed significantly increased odds for attempted suicides both in family sample (odds ratio (OR)=3.37 and 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.59–7.13 for BMI=40–<50 kg/m2; OR=3.85 and 95% CI=1.71–8.66 for BMI⩾50 kg/m2) and in NESARC sample (OR=2.11 and 95% CI=1.59–2.81 for BMI=40–<50 kg/m2; OR=2.56 and 95% CI=1.34–4.92 for BMI⩾50 kg/m2) after adjustment for sociodemographic factors. Compared to general population, the risk for attempted suicide was 87 and 122% higher for those with BMI=40–<50 and ⩾50 kg/m2, respectively. The pattern of results in the family and population studies indicates that extreme obesity is strongly associated with attempted suicide.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by National Institute of Health Grants R01DK44073, R01DK48095 and R01DK56210 to R Arlen Price. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of participating families. We thank Ms Elizabeth Joe, Ms Carmeron Braswell, Ms Kye Yun and Ms Jan Merideth for data collection. The NIAAA 2001–2002 NESARC data was downloaded from http://niaaa.census.gov/data.html.

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  1. Department of Psychiatry, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    C Dong, W-D Li, D Li & R A Price

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  1. C Dong
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Correspondence to R A Price.

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Dong, C., Li, WD., Li, D. et al. Extreme obesity is associated with attempted suicides: results from a family study. Int J Obes 30, 388–390 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803119

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