Excess body weight is actually connected with lots of mental issues, but not in the way you probably think.
A groundbreaking study by the Complexity Science Hub and the Medical University of Vienna has revealed a significant link between obesity and mental disorders across various age groups.
Let's find out more.
The research
The extensive investigation, published in Translational Psychiatry, examined a national registry of inpatient hospitalizations in Austria spanning nearly two decades.
The findings uncovered a troubling trend: individuals diagnosed with obesity face a significantly higher risk of developing various mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, nicotine addiction, psychosis, and eating disorders.
Surprisingly, obesity was often the initial diagnosis before the manifestation of psychiatric disorders, with schizophrenia being the exception, exhibiting an opposite time order.
This contradicts the previous belief that psychopharmacological medications alone account for the connection between mental health and obesity, particularly in cases of depression and other psychiatric diagnoses.
Why it's important
Further analysis revealed intriguing gender disparities, with women experiencing a higher risk for most disorders, except for schizophrenia and nicotine addiction.
With obesity posing a significant global health challenge, affecting over 670 million people, the study underscores the critical role of obesity as a multifaceted risk factor for various health issues, including severe mental disorders.
This importance is most pronounced in younger age groups, warranting the urgent need for comprehensive screening for mental health problems in obese patients to enable timely prevention or appropriate treatment measures.
