Are changes in depressive symptoms, general health and residential area socio-economic status associated with trajectories of waist circumference and body mass index?

Theo Niyonsenga; Suzanne J Carroll; Neil T Coffee; Anne W Taylor; Mark Daniel

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0227029

Are changes in depressive symptoms, general health and residential area socio-economic status associated with trajectories of waist circumference and body mass index?

PLoS One. 2020 Jan 8;15(1):e0227029. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227029. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Theo Niyonsenga¹, Suzanne J Carroll¹, Neil T Coffee^{1

2}, Anne W Taylor³, Mark Daniel^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Health Research Institute, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia.
² School of Architecture and Built Environment, Healthy Cities Research Group, The University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
³ Discipline of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
⁴ Department of Medicine, St Vincent's Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Fitzroy, Australia.

Abstract

Objective: This study sought to assess whether changes in depressive symptoms, general health, and area-level socio-economic status (SES) were associated to changes over time in waist circumference and body mass index (BMI).

Methods: A total of 2871 adults (18 years or older), living in Adelaide (South Australia), were observed across three waves of data collection spanning ten years, with clinical measures of waist circumference, height and weight. Participants completed the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) and Short Form 36 health questionnaires (SF-36 general health domain). An area-level SES measure, relative location factor, was derived from hedonic regression models using residential property features but blind to location. Growth curve models with latent variables were fitted to data.

Results: Waist circumference, BMI and depressive symptoms increased over time. General health and relative location factor decreased. Worsening general health and depressive symptoms predicted worsening waist circumference and BMI trajectories in covariate-adjusted models. Diminishing relative location factor was negatively associated with waist circumference and BMI trajectories in unadjusted models only.

Conclusions: Worsening depressive symptoms and general health predict increasing adiposity and suggest the development of unhealthful adiposity might be prevented by attention to negative changes in mental health and overall general health.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adiposity
Body Mass Index
Depression / epidemiology*
Depressive Disorder / epidemiology
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Obesity / complications
Public Health
Socioeconomic Factors
South Australia / epidemiology
Waist Circumference

Grants and funding

The study was supported by grants from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council awarded to co-author Professor Mark Daniel (grants #631917 and #570150). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council had no further role in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.