Fat People Not More Jolly, Study Says

Darn! So what do we make of Santa Claus? Is he taking Prozac or some other
SSRI when he is not delivering presents to the boys and girls at Christmas
time? NO!! I can't believe it. He is just happy. However he is, fat or
skinny. A happy person is happy no matter their size. If a fat person is
happy, their size is immaterial. The nature of the depression that people
face with their obesity is a measure of the relentless nature of the
societal pressures that everyone faces. Our society is biased against fat
people, and those among us who are obese face those messages every day.
There is the additional concern over health. If a fat person starts to face
health issues because of their obesity, this will (as will any chronic
condition) contribute to that person's poor sense of self, feelings of
inadequacy and shame. I think the report of this study is far too
simplistic.

RS

Fat People Not More Jolly, Study Says
Jul 03 4:45 PM US/Eastern
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By LINDSEY TANNER
AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO

Fat people are not more jolly, according to a study that instead found
obesity is strongly linked with depression and other mood disorders.

Whether obesity might cause these problems or is the result of them is not
certain, and the research does not provide an answer, but there are theories
to support both arguments.

Depression often causes people to abandon activities, and some medications
used to treat mental illness can cause weight gain. On the other hand,
obesity is often seen as a stigma and overweight people often are subject to
teasing and other hurtful behavior.

The study of more than 9,000 adults found that mood and anxiety disorders
including depression were about 25 percent more common in the obese people
studied than in the non-obese. Substance abuse was an exception _ obese
people were about 25 percent less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol than
slimmer participants.

The results appear in the July issue of Archives of General Psychiatry,
being released Monday. The lead author was Dr. Gregory Simon, a researcher
with Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, a large nonprofit health plan in
the Pacific Northwest.

The results "suggest that the cultural stereotype of the jolly fat person is
more a figment of our imagination than a reality," said Dr. Wayne Fenton of
the National Institute of Mental Health, which funded the study.

"The take-home message for doctors is to be on the lookout for depression
among their patients who are overweight," Fenton said.

Both conditions are quite common. About one-third of U.S. adults are obese,
and depression affects about 10 percent of the population, or nearly 21
million U.S. adults in a given year.

Previous studies produced conflicting results on whether obesity is linked
with mental illness including depression, although a growing body of
research suggests there is an association.

This latest study helps resolve the question, said Dr. Susan McElroy, a
psychiatry professor at the University of Cincinnati and editor of a
textbook on obesity and mental disorders.

"This is a state-of-the-art psychiatric epidemiology study that really
confirms that there is, in fact, a relationship," she said.

The study was based on an analysis of a national survey of 9,125 adults who
were interviewed to assess mental state. Obesity status was determined using
participants' self-reported weight and height measurements.

About one-fourth of all participants were obese. Some 22 percent of obese
participants had experienced a mood disorder including depression, compared
with 18 percent of the nonobese.

McElroy said the study bolsters previous research suggesting that drug and
alcohol abuse are less common in the obese. One reason might be that
good-tasting food and substances of abuse both affect the same
reward-seeking areas of the brain, McElroy said. Why some people choose food
as a mood-regulator and others drugs or alcohol is uncertain, she said.

The study found the relationship between obesity and mental illness was
equally strong in men and women, contrasting with some previous research
that found a more robust link in women.