A new relationship established between the body mass index and the risk of depression

A new study shows that a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30 is associated with a higher risk of depression.

A team from the University of South Australia and the University of Ekatera (UK) studied the case of more than 48,000 people suffering from depression and belong to the British Biobank group. This large, long-term study allows access to genomic data for British residents from 37 to 73 years.

The researchers also formed a control group that consisted of 290,000 people born between 1938 and 1971.

Using this information, they analyzed genes associated with higher BMI and reduced disease risk such as diabetes, to check if health problems are associated withobesity they were originally depression.

The association seems more important among them women than in men.

We're talking about obesity from a ITM greater than 30 kg / m2, BMI calculated by weight division in kilograms in altitude in square meters.

The researchers noticed this very thin people and low BMI are more prone to depression than those with a weight that is considered a norm or very thin woman.

"The current obesity epidemic is very worrying"explains Professor Elina Hipponen, who led the study."With depression, the annual cost of the international community is $ 1 trillion, according to estimates. "

"Our research shows that excessive weight not only increases the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular problems: it can lead to depression."

The study is not the first to establish a link between BMI and depression. In 2016, researchers had already concluded that a BMI of 30 to 34.9 was twice as high as the risk of depression compared to a woman who had a weight in the norm. Researchers at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, USA, presented results this year suggesting that women with high BMI also poses a risk of postpartum depression more important.

A Dutch study presented at the European Congress on Obesity also suggested children with overweight At the age of 8 or 13 years, it is likely three times that they will later fall into depression.