Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Aug;195(2):149-55.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.108.057299.

Association between common mental disorder and obesity over the adult life course

Mika Kivimäki  1 , G David Batty, Archana Singh-Manoux, Hermann Nabi, Séverine Sabia, Adam G Tabak, Tasnime N Akbaraly, Jussi Vahtera, Michael G Marmot, Markus Jokela
Affiliations

Association between common mental disorder and obesity over the adult life course

Mika Kivimäki et al. Br J Psychiatry. 2009 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Prospective data on the association between common mental disorders and obesity are scarce, and the impact of ageing on this association is poorly understood.

Aims: To examine the association between common mental disorders and obesity (body mass index > or = 30 kg/m(2)) across the adult life course.

Method: The participants, 6820 men and 3346 women, aged 35-55 were screened four times during a 19-year follow-up (the Whitehall II study). Each screening included measurements of mental disorders (the General Health Questionnaire), weight and height.

Results: The excess risk of obesity in the presence of mental disorders increased with age (P = 0.004). The estimated proportion of people who were obese was 5.7% at age 40 both in the presence and absence of mental disorders, but the corresponding figures were 34.6% and 27.1% at age 70. The excess risk did not vary by gender or according to ethnic group or socioeconomic position.

Conclusions: The association between common mental disorders and obesity becomes stronger at older ages.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Growth curves for obesity risk by age and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-caseness (estimated based on multilevel general estimation equation logistic regression analysis).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kopelman PG. Obesity as a medical problem. Nature 2000; 404: 635-43. - PubMed
    1. Compton WM, Conway KP, Stinson FS, Grant BF. Changes in the prevalence of major depression and comorbid substance use disorders in the United States between 1991–1992 and 2001–2002. Am J Psychiatry 2006; 163: 2141-7. - PubMed
    1. Mathers CD, Loncar D. Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030. PLoS Med 2006; 3: e442. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Penninx BW, Beekman AT, Honig A, Deeg DJ, Schoevers RA, van Eijk JT, et al. Depression and cardiac mortality: results from a community-based longitudinal study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2001; 58: 221-7. - PubMed
    1. Everson SA, Roberts RE, Goldberg DE, Kaplan GA. Depressive symptoms and increased risk of stroke mortality over a 29-year period. Arch Intern Med 1998; 158: 1133-8. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources