A study by University of Alabama at Birmingham Assistant Professor of Sociology Belinda Needham, Ph.D. published in the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health confirms a link between abdominal obesity and depression.
The study results were:
1) those who started the study reporting higher levels of depression gained weight faster than those reporting no depression,
2) people who began the study overweight showed no changes in levels of depression regardless of weight gain or weight loss.
Data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, a longitudinal study of 5,115 men and women ages 18-30 that aimed to identify the precursors of cardiovascular disease, was used to correlate BMI (body mass index) and levels of reported depression.
Dr. Needham indicates an already known relationship between cortisol (a stress hormone), abdominal obesity, and depression may be the best target for future treatments of depression and abdominal obesity.
The depression portion of the dilemma has been addressed by the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s acquisition of a Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation device that treats depression that is unresponsive to drug treatment and other therapies.
A video of Dr. Needham’s study report can be seen at this site http://main.uab.edu/Sites/MediaRelations/articles/77873/
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Birmingham Science News Examiner
Paul Hamaker