Original post by ANARCHY__
Spoiler:
Originally Posted by Abstract from the American Journal of Epidemiology
Data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988–1994) were used to examine the relation between obesity and depression. Past-month depression was defined using criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, and was measured with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Obesity was defined as a body mass index (weight (kg)/height (m)2) of 30 or higher. The authors compared risks of depression in obese and normal-weight (body mass index 18.5–24.9) persons. Obesity was associated with past-month depression in women (odds ratio (OR) = 1.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 3.3) but was not significantly associated in men (OR = 1.73, 95% CI: 0.56, 5.37). When obesity was stratified by severity, heterogeneity in the association with depression was observed. Class 3 (severe) obesity (body mass index ≥40) was associated with past-month depression in unadjusted analyses (OR = 4.98, 95% CI: 2.07, 11.99); the association remained strong after results were controlled for age, education, marital status, physician’s health rating, dieting for medical reasons, use of psychiatric medicines, cigarette smoking, and use of alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. These findings suggest that obesity is associated with depression mainly among persons with severe obesity. Prospective studies will be necessary to clarify the obesity-depression relation but await the identification of potential risk factors for depression in the obese.
Spoiler:
Originally Posted by Abstract from the British Medical Journal
Objectives To examine potential reciprocal associations between common mental disorders and obesity, and to assess whether dose-response relations exist.
Design Prospective cohort study with four measures of common mental disorders and obesity over 19 years (Whitehall II study).
Setting Civil service departments in London.
Participants 4363 adults (28% female, mean age 44 years at baseline).
Main outcome Common mental disorder defined as general health questionnaire “caseness;” overweight and obesity based on Word Health Organization definitions.
Results In models adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index at baseline, odds ratios for obesity at the fourth screening were 1.33 (95% confidence interval 1.00 to 1.77), 1.64 (1.13 to 2.36), and 2.01 (1.21 to 3.34) for participants with common mental disorder at one, two, or three preceding screenings compared with people free from common mental disorder (P for trend<0.001). The corresponding mean differences in body mass index at the most recent screening were 0.20, 0.31, and 0.50 (P for trend<0.001). These associations remained after adjustment for baseline characteristics related to mental health and exclusion of participants who were obese at baseline. In addition, obesity predicted future risk of common mental disorder, again with evidence of a dose-response relation (P for trend=0.02, multivariable model). However, this association was lost when people with common mental disorder at baseline were excluded (P for trend=0.33).
Conclusions These findings suggest that in British adults the direction of association between common mental disorders and obesity is from common mental disorder to increased future risk of obesity. This association is cumulative such that people with chronic or repeat episodes of common mental disorder are particularly at risk of weight gain.
There are more academic papers, of course, citing or reaching similar conclusions. It's laughable to read the pseudo-intellectuals (not yourself) coming on to this thread, claiming to possess any degree of knowledge by stating inane things like 'OH YEH UR JUST FAT COZ U DNT TRY HARD ENUF LALALALALALALA'. Both depression and morbid obesity, which is what the OP addressed, are serious clinical and medical conditions and the reason for the current perspectives on both of them is purely political and nothing else.