Association of overweight and obesity with mental distress in Iranian adolescents: The CASPIAN-III Study

• Main Authors: Mohsen Jari, Mostafa Qorbani, Mohammad Esmaeil Motlagh, Ramin Heshmat, Gelayol Ardalan, Roya Kelishadi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2014-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Preventive Medicine
• Subjects: Adolescents; anxiety; depression; Iran; obesity; psychological disorders
• Online Access: http://www.ijpvmjournal.net/article.asp?issn=2008-7802;year=2014;volume=5;issue=3;spage=256;epage=261;aulast=Jari
• ISSN: 2008-7802; 2008-8213

Background: Excess weight may be associated with mental distress and this relationship varies according to the socio-cultural background of different populations. This study aims to assess the relationship of overweight and obesity with some psychological disorders in a nationally representative sample of Iranian adolescents. Methods: This nationwide study was conducted in 2009-2010 among 5570 students, aged 10-18 years, living in 27 provinces in Iran. Data were collected by using the translated and validated questionnaire of the World Health Organization Global School-based Health Survey. Results: Data of 5528 students (49.7% girls) were complete for this study. Their mean age was 14.7 (2.4) years. Overall 7.9% of participants were overweight and 8.8% were obese. 58.7% of students had anxiety, without significant association of overweight (odds ratio [OR]: 0.86, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.68-1.09) and obesity (OR: 1.11, 95% CI: 0.88-1.40) with an anxiety. Nearly 62.6% of students reported to have depression, there was no significant relationship between overweight (OR: 1.11, 95% CI: 0.86-1.43) obesity and (OR: 1.01, 95% CI: 0.79-1.29) with the depression. About 49.4% of students had insomnia, without significant association of overweight (OR: 1.17, 95% CI:, 0.91-1.51) and obesity (OR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.71-1.17) with the insomnia. Conclusions: In Iranian adolescents, excess weight did not increase the risk of psychological distress. This finding might be due to the positive attitude of family and peers to fatness in adolescence.