New research shows that obesity, depression, and alcohol abuse can be viciously interrelated in young women.
An academic team at the University of Washington looked at data collected from more than 750 young adults when they were 24, 27, and 30 years old.
The researchers found that at some point during this period, nearly half the study participants met the criteria for being obese, depressed, or for abusing alcohol. Few of the adults had all three conditions at once, but for women, in particular, the conditions frequently overlapped.
Study author Carolyn McCarty said it’s possible that among women in their twenties, alcohol abuse can help lead to obesity. And in turn, this can lead to body image issues that cause depression. And so, for women, McCarty stresses that more intervention programs should be in place to help prevent obesity, depression and alcohol abuse among young adults, McCarty said.
Interestingly, for men obesity seems to protect against depression, she said. McCarty noted, “It’s the so-called ‘jolly fat man’ theory, which suggests that overweight people are actually happier.”
October 13th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
I would assume that this is because obesity usually leads to poor self-esteem and body image.