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The Correlation Between BMI Status and Depression/Depression‐like Symptoms Based on Gender and Race
Author(s) -
Badillo Nathan,
Khatib Mohammed,
Khanna Deepesh,
Kahar Payal
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2021.35.s1.02849
Subject(s) - overweight , medicine , depression (economics) , demography , national health and nutrition examination survey , obesity , descriptive statistics , gerontology , environmental health , population , statistics , mathematics , sociology , economics , macroeconomics
While being overweight is a risk factor for hyperlipidemia, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, it can also be a risk factor for depression and vice versa. Objective This study aims to evaluate the relationship between BMI and the prevalence of depression symptoms between genders and races. Methods A nationally representative sample was utilized to explore the relationships between depression‐related symptoms and BMI status based on comparing gender and racial identities. Data from the 2013‐2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) editions were used. The focus of this study was the responses from the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) given during this study, in which we accounted for the eight primary questions’ responses based on one's gender and BMI status. Statistical analysis was conducted by descriptive analysis, Chi‐Square test, and multinomial regression analysis. Results Data are presented as percentages. Both men and women had the majority of those who admitted to having depression or depression like symptoms more than half the days or nearly every day be overweight or obese. However, men had a higher prevalence than women among most of the questions. Statistical analysis showed that men and women who felt down, depressed, or hopeless nearly every day, 61.5% (χ2=5.045, p= 0.992) and 50.9% (χ2=17.186, p= 0.308) were overweight, respectively. Among the races, for those who felt down, depressed, or hopeless nearly every day, non‐Hispanic Asian individuals had the lowest percentage be overweight at 47.7% (χ2=7.099, p= 0.955), while Hispanic individuals other than Mexican‐American had the highest percentage be overweight at 67.4% (χ2=8.792, p= 0.721) Conclusions Results indicate that being overweight or obese does have a positive relationship with depression and depression‐like symptoms for each gender and race. Individuals who report having depression‐like symptoms are likely to be overweight or obese. Further research is needed to determine other differences in etiologies between genders and races along with finding out whether more individuals become depressed due to being overweight or obese or more individuals become overweight or obese due to being depressed. Results are limited to the data attained from NHANES.