Obesity and Depression Interrelationships
Summary
Obesity and depression exhibit a complex, bidirectional relationship shaped by biological, psychological and social factors. Excess adiposity can alter inflammatory signalling, neuroendocrine function and metabolic homeostasis, creating a milieu that predisposes to mood disturbances. Conversely, depressive symptoms may promote weight gain through changes in appetite regulation, decreased physical activity and dysregulated stress responses. Genetic studies and longitudinal cohorts have shown that higher body mass index increases the risk of developing depression, while chronic low mood can accelerate weight gain and metabolic comorbidities. Age and sex moderate these effects, with younger individuals and women often demonstrating greater vulnerability. Across diverse populations, both underweight and obesity have been linked to elevated depressive symptoms, suggesting a nonlinear association between body composition and mental health. Understanding these interrelationships is essential for developing integrated prevention strategies, from lifestyle interventions to pharmacological treatments that target both metabolic and affective pathways. Such an approach has global relevance, given the rising prevalence of obesity and depressive disorders and their combined burden on health systems.
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Obesity and Depression Interrelationships publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in obesity and depression interrelationships across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Body Mass Index (BMI): a measure of body fat based on weight relative to height squared, used to classify underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity.
Abdominal obesity: accumulation of fat around the waist, commonly assessed by waist circumference, which is strongly linked to metabolic and mood disorders.
Mendelian randomisation: a genetic epidemiology approach that uses inherited genetic variants as proxies for modifiable exposures to infer causal relationships.
Pleiotropy: the phenomenon by which a single genetic factor influences multiple, seemingly unrelated phenotypic traits, such as obesity and depression.
References
- Body mass index and inflammation in depression and treatment-resistant depression: a Mendelian randomisation study. BMC Medicine (2023).
- Obesity as pleiotropic risk state for metabolic and mental health throughout life. Translational Psychiatry (2023).
- Depression and body mass index, a u-shaped association. BMC Public Health (2009).
- Metabolic disturbances connecting obesity and depression. Frontiers in Neuroscience (2013).
- Neuropsychiatric Comorbidity in Obesity: Role of Inflammatory Processes. Frontiers in Endocrinology (2014).
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