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Obesity and mental disorders in the general population: results from the world mental health surveys

International Journal of Obesity volume 32, pages 192–200 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives:

(1) To investigate whether there is an association between obesity and mental disorders in the general populations of diverse countries, and (2) to establish whether demographic variables (sex, age, education) moderate any associations observed.

Design:

Thirteen cross-sectional, general population surveys conducted as part of the World Mental Health Surveys initiative.

Subjects:

Household residing adults, 18 years and over (n=62 277).

Measurements:

DSM-IV mental disorders (anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, alcohol use disorders) were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 3.0), a fully structured diagnostic interview. Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 or greater; severe obesity as BMI 35+. Persons with BMI less than 18.5 were excluded from analysis. Height and weight were self-reported.

Results:

Statistically significant, albeit modest associations (odds ratios generally in the range of 1.2–1.5) were observed between obesity and depressive disorders, and between obesity and anxiety disorders, in pooled data across countries. These associations were concentrated among those with severe obesity, and among females. Age and education had variable effects across depressive and anxiety disorders.

Conclusions:

The findings are suggestive of a modest relationship between obesity (particularly severe obesity) and emotional disorders among women in the general population. The study is limited by the self-report of BMI and cannot clarify the direction or nature of the relationship observed, but it may indicate a need for a research and clinical focus on the psychological heterogeneity of the obese population.

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Acknowledgements

The surveys included in this report were carried out in conjunction with the World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative. We thank the WMH staff for assistance with instrumentation, fieldwork and data analysis. These activities were supported by the United States National Institute of Mental Health (R01-MH070884), the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, the Pfizer Foundation, the US Public Health Service (R13-MH066849, R01-MH069864 and R01-DA016558), the Fogarty International Center (FIRCA R01-TW006481), the Pan American Health Organization, Eli Lilly and Company, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline and Bristol-Myers Squibb. A complete list of WMH publications can be found at http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/wmh/. The Mexican National Comorbidity Survey (MNCS) is supported by The National Institute of Psychiatry Ramon de la Fuente (INPRFMDIES 4280) and by the National Council on Science and Technology (CONACyT-G30544-H), with supplemental support from the PanAmerican Health Organization (PAHO). The Lebanese survey is supported by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, the WHO (Lebanon) and unrestricted grants from Janssen Cilag, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, Novartis and anonymous donations. The ESEMeD project was funded by the European Commission (Contracts QLG5-1999-01042; SANCO 2004123), the Piedmont Region (Italy), Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain (FIS 00/0028), Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Spain (SAF 2000-158-CE), Departament de Salut, Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain and other local agencies and by an unrestricted educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline. The Colombian National Study of Mental Health (NSMH) is supported by the Ministry of Social Protection, with supplemental support from the Saldarriaga Concha Foundation. The Israel National Health Survey is funded by the Ministry of Health with support from the Israel National Institute for Health Policy and Health Services Research and the National Insurance Institute of Israel. The World Mental Health Japan (WMHJ) Survey is supported by the Grant for Research on Psychiatric and Neurological Diseases and Mental Health (H13-SHOGAI-023, H14-TOKUBETSU-026, H16-KOKORO-013) from the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The New Zealand Mental Health Survey (NZMHS) is supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Health, Alcohol Advisory Council and the Health Research Council. The US National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; U01-MH60220) with supplemental support from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF; Grant 044708) and the John W. Alden Trust.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Otago University, Wellington, New Zealand

    K M Scott

  2. University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium

    R Bruffaerts & K Demyttenaere

  3. Center for Health Studies, Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, WA, USA

    G E Simon & M Von Korff

  4. Institut Municipal d’Investigacio Medica (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain

    J Alonso

  5. University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    M Angermeyer

  6. Department of Mental Health, AUSL di Bologna, Italy

    G de Girolamo

  7. Inserm, Paris, France

    I Gasquet

  8. Sant Joan de Deu-SSM, Barcelona, Spain

    J M Haro

  9. Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy, and Applied Care (IDRAAC), Beirut, Lebanon

    E Karam

  10. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    R C Kessler

  11. Ministry of Health, Mental Health Services, Jerusalem, Israel

    D Levinson

  12. National Institute of Psychiatry, Mexico City, Mexico

    M E Medina Mora

  13. Centre for Multi-Disciplinary Studies in Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia

    M A Oakley Browne

  14. Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    J Ormel

  15. Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca University; Saldarriaga Concha Foundation,

    J P Villa

  16. Saldarriaga Concha Foundation, Bogota, Colombia

    J P Villa

  17. Sensatsu Public Health Center, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan

    H Uda

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  8. I Gasquet
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Correspondence to K M Scott.

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Scott, K., Bruffaerts, R., Simon, G. et al. Obesity and mental disorders in the general population: results from the world mental health surveys. Int J Obes 32, 192–200 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803701

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