Associations between waist circumference and depressive disorders

The relationship between abdominal obesity and depression in the general population: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…As a result of the coding process, a further 15 articles were excluded. These included 1 study that examined the longitudinal effect of abdominal obesity on depression among adolescents [27], 1 article was a conference poster which did not provide author contact details [28], the other 9 articles were those for which the authors did not respond to the request for further data [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37], 1 article reporting gender-stratified correlation coefficients only and a pooled result could not be calculated due to heterogeneity between subsamples [38], and 3 articles that were multiple reports from one study sample [39][40][41]. Among the 22 articles left from this procedure, it was decided the 3 prospective studies [42][43][44] were not included for review due to the small number of studies and heterogeneity among them.…”

The Weight of Traumatic Stress

“…3,4 Numerous studies have documented associations between obesity and various forms of psychological distress. 5,6 While some studies have failed to find a relationship, 7,8 the preponderance of evidence suggests that severe forms of distress adversely influence weight status. Recent work has identified posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a marker of extreme distress occurring in response to a traumatic event and indicative of a chronic stress reaction, 9 as a possible risk factor for weight gain and ultimately obesity.…”

The role of obesity measures in the development and persistence of major depressive disorder

“…Some evidence has shown that abdominal obesity, as opposed to general obesity presents a greater risk for the development cardiovascular disease and other metabolic conditions (Schneider et al, 2010a). However, studies into the relationship between waist circumference and depression provide conflicting evidence (Hach et al, 2006;Moreira et al, 2007;Wiltink et al, 2013).Hence, the nature of the relationship between obesity, abdominal obesity and the development of depression remains unclear.…”