Age and gender specific association between obesity and depressive symptoms: a large-scale cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: This is a cross-sectional study to explore the age and gender specific association between obesity and depression in Chinese rural adults. METHODS: A total of 29,900 eligible participants from the Henan Rural Cohort Study were included. Standard anthropometric measurements were undertaken to obtain data on body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). The Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) was utilized to discover depressive symptoms. Logistic regression was performed to explore the association between obesity (independent variable) and depressive symptoms (dependent variable). RESULTS: There were 1777 subjects with depressive symptoms, accounting for 5.94%. After multivariable adjustment, compared with normal weight group, the odds ratios (ORs) [95% confidence interval (CI)] for depressive symptoms in underweight, overweight and general obese groups were 1.41 (1.08–1.84), 0.87 (0.78–0.97) and 0.86 (0.74–0.99), respectively. Similarly, the OR (95% CI) of abdominal obesity group was 0.84 (0.76–0.93). Besides, there was linear decreasing trend of WC with depressive symptoms, but not BMI. Moreover, the inverse association between obesity and depressive symptoms was stronger in men and the elderly than that in women and the young. CONCLUSION: Underweight was associated with a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms, which indicated that health care should pay attention to underweight as well as obesity, especially for women and the young. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: The Henan Rural Cohort Study has been registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Register (Registration number: ChiCTR-OOC-15006699). Date of registration: 2015-07-06.