141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

280035
Racial and gender differences in the association between depressive symptoms and higher body mass index

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Gergana Kodjebacheva, PhD , Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Michigan - Flint, Flint, MI
Daniel J. Kruger, PhD , School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Background: According to meta-analysis of prior studies, depression leads to higher body mass index (BMI) in adults. The study focuses on an area of limited research, specifically the racial and gender differences in the association between depressive symptoms and higher BMI. Methods: In Genesee County, Michigan, random samples of households were drawn from census tracts. The Speak to Your Health Survey was administered among adults aged 18 years and older in these households. Data from three waves of survey data collection (2007, 2009, and 2011) were combined resulting in a sample of 3,381 adults. Self-reported height and weight were used to calculate BMI. Depressive symptoms were assessed with items from the Brief Symptoms Inventory. A step-wise linear regression identified unique relationships between BMI and age, gender, race, education, depressive symptoms, and the interaction terms for demographic variables with depressive symptoms. Results: The three significant predictors of BMI were gender, gender x depressive symptoms, and race x depressive symptoms. Results indicated that women had a higher BMI than men did, and that depressive symptoms were stronger predictors of BMI for women and African Americans than for men and non-Hispanic Whites. Conclusions: Depressive symptoms are a greater risk factor for higher BMI in African Americans than non-Hispanic Whites, and in women compared to men. African Americans have a reduced likelihood to seek mental health services to treat their depressive symptoms than non-Hispanic Whites, which may further exacerbate their obesity risk. Intervention to reduce depressive symptoms may help prevent obesity in African Americans.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Epidemiology
Other professions or practice related to public health
Program planning
Public health or related education
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the association between depression and obesity Compare the effect of depressive symptoms on higher BMI between males and females Compare the effect of depressive symptoms on higher BMI among people of different racial/ethnic groups

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I received my PhD in public health from the UCLA School of Public Health. I completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. The findings of my research were published in scholarly journals. I serve on the Technical Advisory Committee for the development of a master plan for the city of Flint, Michigan.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.