HHS HealthBeat (August 31, 2006)

Big and feeling bad

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Are fat people jolly? One study finds the opposite is more likely true. Seattle psychiatrist Greg Simon, of Group Health Cooperative's Center for Health Studies, looked at national data on mood or anxiety disorders such as depression.

"The risk of anxiety and depression problems increased as body mass index, or weight, went higher." (six seconds)

And he says the relation seems to work both ways – while people who weigh too much are more likely to have depression, people who have depression also are more likely to weigh too much.

The work in Archives of General Psychiatry was supported by the National Institutes of Health, HHS' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the U.S. Public Health Service.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May 7, 2011