Abdominal Obesity and Depression are linked
A recent study from the University of Alabama has confirmed there is a relationship between depression and abdominal obesity.
The researchers found that during a 15 year period, young adults with depression experienced a faster rate of weight gain than the others in the study, but those starting overweight did not experience changes in depression.
Research from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) was aimed at determining whether height and waist circumference were associated with increases in depression or whether depression was associated with changes in BMI and waist circumference during a period of time.
The participants were asked to rank their depression at ages five, 10, 15 and 20 and as a whole every participant was found to have gained weight during the 15 year study period.
However, those that started with high levels of depression increased in abdominal obesity and BMI faster than those who reported fewer symptoms of depression at year five. Year five saw the waist circumference of the high depression group 1.6 centimetres wider than those who reported a low rate of depression. Similarly year 20 saw waist circumference of the highly depressive group totalling an extra 2.6 centimetres than those reporting low levels.
Experts have suggested the link could be down to heightened levels of the stress hormone cortisol but more studies are needed to determine the cause.
If you are suffering from depression and feel you may benefit from talking to a counsellor you can do so using the homepage of this site. More information on counselling for depression can be found here.
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