Association between obesity and depression in young male subjects

Background and aims: Obesity that plays a role in hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia has become an increasing public health problem. Recent studies have shown that depression and other psychiatric diseases were observed more often in people with obesity and the association between obesity and depression is emphasized more in females than males. This study aimed to find out whether there was a relationship between depression and obesity also in the young male population. Methods: A total of 157 subjects (66 young obese males and 91 healthy controls), aged between 18-30 years, participated in this study. Zung depression scale (ZDS) was used for evaluation of depression severity. Results: Mean age and body mass index (BMI) values of the obese and control groups were 22.6 +/- 3.5 yrs, 35.7 +/- 2.3 kg/m(2); and 22.4 +/- 2.7 yrs, 23.0 +/- 2.5 kg/m(2), respectively. Mean ZDS scores were 51 1 0 (obese group) and 45 1 0 (control group) and the difference in between was statistically significant (p<0.01). There was a significant correlation (r=0.225, p=0.005) between ZDS and BMI in all subjects. Conclusions: In our study, we determined that depressive symptoms were more common in young male subjects with obesity. It is important to consider also depressive symptoms in the holistic evaluation of obesity. Obesity and Metabolism 2009; 5: 86-88.