Obesity and depressive symptoms in Chinese elderly

Li, Zhi Bin; Ho, Sai Yin; Chan, Wai Man; Ho, Kin Sang; Li, Mun Pik; Leung, Gabriel M.; Lam, Tai Hing

doi:10.1002/gps.1040

Cited by 135 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In contrast to the several studies in Western countries showing a positive relationship between obesity and depression (Luppino et al, 2010; Sachs-Ericsson et al, 2007), an inverse relationship between BMI and depressive symptoms was found in our study. This finding is consistent with the results from two Asian countries with Korea, namely Japan and China (Kuriyama et al, 2006; Li et al, 2004), where a higher weight has also been regarded as a sign of wealth and health in the past (Li et al, 2004). Finally ADL, IADL limitations were also associated with depressive symptoms.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Predictors of and health services utilization related to depressive symptoms among elderly Koreans

Shin¹,

Kyung²,

Maselko³

et al. 2012

Social Science & Medicine

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While the prevalence, comorbidity, risk profile and health care utilization for late-life depression have been described for many Western countries, much less is known about the recent epidemiology of late-life depression in East Asian countries such as Korea. We investigated predictors for depressive symptoms and the association between depressive symptoms and the utilization of both medical care and preventive services in elderly Koreans. Data were obtained from a nationally representative sample of Koreans aged 60 and above (2226 men, 2911 women) who participated in the 2008 wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Depressive symptoms were measured using the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale. Risk factors considered included sociodemographics, health behaviors, chronic diseases, and physical function. Health care utilization factors included hospitalization, outpatient clinic use and basic medical checkup. Being female, being unmarried, and having less education, lower household income, physical inactivity and lower weight were associated with depressive symptoms. Presence of chronic diseases and limited physical function also showed a significant association with depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were associated with increased odds of hospitalization and outpatient visits, but decreased the odds of utilization of basic medical checkup after controlling for potential confounders. Findings on most risk factors, except lower weight, were consistent with reports from Western countries. It is important to recognize the burden of depressive symptoms in the elderly. The interaction of such symptoms with chronic diseases should be acknowledged and considered in the clinical setting as well as in health care planning and policymaking.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Predictors of and health services utilization related to depressive symptoms among elderly Koreans

Shin¹,

Kyung²,

Maselko³

et al. 2012

Social Science & Medicine

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“…Obese elderly were less likely to suffer from depressive symptoms than those of normal weight; this was confirmed in a study from Hong Kong in China [61]. Our results also supported obesity had better HRQL in the mental component summary.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationssupporting

confidence: 85%

Association between Body Mass Index and Health-Related Quality of Life: The "Obesity Paradox" in 21,218 Adults of the Chinese General Population

et al. 2015

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BackgroundThere was no consistent recognition of the association between high or low body mass index (BMI) and health related quality of life (HRQL). The aim of this research was to study the association between BMI and HRQL in Chinese adults, and to further explore the stability of that association in the subgroup analysis stratified by status of chronic conditions.MethodsA total of 21,218 adults aged 18 and older were classified as underweight, normal weight, overweight, class I obese, and class II obese based on their BMI. HRQL was measured by the SF-36 Health Survey. The independent impact of each BMI category on HRQL was examined through standard least squares regression by comparing the difference of SF-36 scores and the minimum clinically important differences (MCID), which was defined as 3 points.ResultsCompared to the normal weight, the class I obese was significantly associated with better HRQL scores in the mental component summary (MCS) (75.1 vs. 73.4, P<0.001). The underweight had the lowest score in both the physical components summary (PCS) (75.4 vs. 77.5, P<0.001) and mental components summary (MCS) (71.8 vs. 73.4, P<0.001). For the MCID, the HRQL score was reduced by more than 3 points in the physical functioning for the class II obese (D=-3.43) and the general health for the underweight (D=-3.71). Stratified analyses showed a similar result in the health subjects and chronic conditions, and it was significant in the chronic conditions.ConclusionsThe class I obese showed the best HRQL, especially in the mental domain. The worst HRQL was found in the underweight. The class II obese reduced HRQL in the physical functioning only. “Obesity paradox” was more obvious in the participants with chronic conditions.

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“…Crisp and colleagues [16, 17] even coined the term “jolly fat” to capture the idea of the association between being overweight and being happy when they found that an overweight, middle-aged suburban and rural population reported low levels of anxiety and depression. There was further support for the “jolly fat” hypothesis in other population-based studies, which found that higher body mass index (BMI) was inversely associated with depression scores in an older population [18, 19]. However, it has been pointed out that overweight adults might be less likely to reveal negative emotions to others due to social desirability bias [16] or cultural values [19], or that appetite might play a moderating role on the relationship between obesity and depression [18].…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 64%

“…There was further support for the “jolly fat” hypothesis in other population-based studies, which found that higher body mass index (BMI) was inversely associated with depression scores in an older population [18, 19]. However, it has been pointed out that overweight adults might be less likely to reveal negative emotions to others due to social desirability bias [16] or cultural values [19], or that appetite might play a moderating role on the relationship between obesity and depression [18]. …”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 64%

Body Weight Can Change How Your Emotions Are Perceived

2016

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Accurately interpreting other’s emotions through facial expressions has important adaptive values for social interactions. However, due to the stereotypical social perception of overweight individuals as carefree, humorous, and light-hearted, the body weight of those with whom we interact may have a systematic influence on our emotion judgment even though it has no relevance to the expressed emotion itself. In this experimental study, we examined the role of body weight in faces on the affective perception of facial expressions. We hypothesized that the weight perceived in a face would bias the assessment of an emotional expression, with overweight faces generally more likely to be perceived as having more positive and less negative expressions than healthy weight faces. Using two-alternative forced-choice perceptual decision tasks, participants were asked to sort the emotional expressions of overweight and healthy weight facial stimuli that had been gradually morphed across six emotional intensity levels into one of two categories—“neutral vs. happy” (Experiment 1) and “neutral vs. sad” (Experiment 2). As predicted, our results demonstrated that overweight faces were more likely to be categorized as happy (i.e., lower happy decision threshold) and less likely to be categorized as sad (i.e., higher sad decision threshold) compared to healthy weight faces that had the same levels of emotional intensity. The neutral-sad decision threshold shift was negatively correlated with participant’s own fear of becoming fat, that is, those without a fear of becoming fat more strongly perceived overweight faces as sad relative to those with a higher fear. These findings demonstrate that the weight of the face systematically influences how its emotional expression is interpreted, suggesting that being overweight may make emotional expressions appear more happy and less sad than they really are.

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Obesity and depressive symptoms in Chinese elderly

Cited by 135 publications

References 29 publications

Predictors of and health services utilization related to depressive symptoms among elderly Koreans

Predictors of and health services utilization related to depressive symptoms among elderly Koreans

Association between Body Mass Index and Health-Related Quality of Life: The "Obesity Paradox" in 21,218 Adults of the Chinese General Population

Body Weight Can Change How Your Emotions Are Perceived

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