Association between body size, weight change and depression: systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

The association between body size, weight change and depression has not been systematically summarised, especially for individuals who are underweight.To conduct a systematic review and a meta-analysis to examine the association between indices of body size, weight change and depression.A total of 183 studies were selected. Fully adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) or odds ratios (ORs) were extracted. A total of 76 studies contributed to data synthesis with a random-effect model, and subgroup analyses were conducted to evaluate the effect of potential moderators.In cohort studies, underweight at baseline increased the risk of subsequent depression (OR = 1.16, 95% CI 1.08-1.24). Overweight (BMI 25-29.9 kg/m) showed no statistically significant relationship with depression overall; however, the subgroup analyses found different results according to gender (men: OR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.72-0.97, women: OR = 1.16, 95% CI 1.07-1.25). In cross-sectional designs, obesity with BMI >40 kg/m showed a greater pooled odds ratio than obesity with BMI >30 kg/mBoth underweight and obesity increase the risk of depression. The association between overweight and depression differs by gender.

BMI and Medically Certified Long‐Term Sickness Absence Among Japanese Employees

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Associations of major depressive disorder with chronic physical conditions, obesity and medication use: Results from the PISMA-ep study

“…Obesity and high BMI have also been associated with MDD in several studies [10,[45][46][47][48]. In our study, higher BMI as a continuous variable, as well as overweight and obesity, were positively associated with MDD in women, but not in men.…”

Night work and postpartum depression: a national register-based cohort study

“…Covariates were chosen a priori based on data availability and previous literature (1,8,34,35 (36,37). Sickness absence three months prior to pregnancy (0, 1-9 or ≥10 days) expressed the sum of all days registered with ≥3 hours of sickness absence in DWHD during this period.…”