Abstract
Purpose: To examine the association between obesity and depressed mood in a large multi-ethnic population and check for consistency in this association across six ethnic groups. Methods: Data of 21,030 persons (18–70 years) were sourced from the HELIUS study. Cross-sectional relationships between obesity measures [body mass index (kg/m2) and waist circumference (cm)] and depressed mood (PHQ-9 score ≥ 10) were analysed. Consistency of associations was investigated across ethnic groups by interaction terms (ethnicity*obesity measures) in basic (age, sex, education) and fully (health behaviours and somatic health) adjusted models. Results: Obesity was prevalent in all ethnic groups, but varied substantially. After sociodemographic adjustment, obesity measures were associated with increased odds of depressed mood but this was inconsistent across ethnic groups. Obesity (BMI ≥ 30 or highest waist circumference quartile) was strongly and significantly associated with depressed mood in the Dutch [Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.72; 95% Confidence intervals (CI) 1.24–2.40, and OR = 1.86; 95% CI 1.38–2.50], respectively, and African Surinamese (OR = 1.60; 95% CI 1.29–1.98 and OR = 1.59; 95% CI 1.27–2.00, respectively) but had a weaker, non-significant association in other ethnic groups (South-Asian Surinamese, Ghanaian, Moroccan, Turkish groups). Adjustment for health behaviours and somatic health had limited effect on this pattern. Conclusion: Obesity was associated with a higher risk of depressed mood. However, ethnic differences were found: the obesity-depressed mood association was strong in the Dutch and African Surinamese populations, but not in other ethnic groups. Future studies should explore whether differential normative values or pathophysiology across ethnic groups explain why the obesity-depression association is inconsistent across ethnic groups.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 629-638 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology |
Volume | 53 |
Issue number | 6 |
Early online date | 11 Apr 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2018 |
Funding
Acknowledgements The HELIUS study is conducted by the Academic Medical Center Amsterdam and the Public Health Service of Amsterdam. Both organisations provided core support for HELIUS. The HELIUS study is also funded by the Dutch Heart Foundation, the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw), the European Union (FP-7), and the European Fund for the Integration of non-EU immigrants (EIF). We gratefully acknowledge the AMC Biobank for their support in biobank management and high-quality storage of collected samples. We are most grateful to the participants of the HELIUS study and the management team, research nurses, interviewers, research assistants and other staff who have taken part in gathering the data of this study. DGS, MB, MV, IB and BP were supported by the EU-MoodFood grant. Funding for this research is provided by EU FP7 MooDFOOD Project ‘Multi-country cOllaborative project on the rOle of Diet, FOod-related behaviour, and Obesity in the prevention of Depression’, Grant agreement no. 613598. The study reported here was additionally supported by an additional grant from the Amsterdam Public Health research institute.
Funders | Funder number |
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Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute | |
Dutch Heart Foundation | |
EU FP7 | |
European Fund | |
Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development | |
Seventh Framework Programme | |
FP7 Ideas: European Research Council | 613598 |
European Commission | FP-7 |
ZonMw | |
Hartstichting |
Keywords
- Depressed mood
- Ethnicity
- HELIUS study
- Obesity
- Overweight