Association of Waist Circumference, Body Mass Index and Height with Depressive Symptoms in Adult Women

Aims: Recent evidences suggest that individuals’ body composition can related to depression symptoms. We aimed to examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI) and height.

Study Design and Methods: This study was carried out on consecutive sample of 100 adult eligible women, aged 20- 60 years attending to five randomly selected primary health care units at Tabriz, Iran. Weight, height, WC and BMI of respondents were measured and then allocated into two groups of fifty overweight or obese (case group, mean age 39.98±10.70) and fifty normal weights (control group, mean age 36.94±11.27). Moderate and severe depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory II. Chi-square and binary logistic regression models were used to explore the association between BMI, WC, height and depressive symptoms.

Results: There were positive associations between BMI, WC and depression symptoms. Participants diagnosed with overweight or obesity showed 20.21% (OR= 2.29, 95% CI 1.02 to 5.13, p= 0.03) greater depressive symptoms than those with normal weight. The odds of being depressed in overweight and obese women were 1.5 (95% CI 0.60 to 3.89) and 4.1 (95% CI 1.32 to 12.94, p= 0.02) times than women with normal weight, respectively. Women with WC> 88 cm were 2 times more likely to have depressive symptoms as compared to women with normal WC. The odds of being depressed in women with WC ≥110 were 6.39 (95% CI 0.68 to 59.65) times than women in reference class. There was no significant correlation between women's height and depressive symptoms.

Conclusion: These preliminary findings suggest that BMI and WC may be associated with depressive symptoms among healthy adults. Also, it warrants additional large scale studies.