Depression could lead to obesity

People who are depressed are more likely to become obese and suffer various health-related problems as a result.

That is according to new research by Leiden University Medical Centre, Netherlands, which suggested there is a strong link between the two conditions.

Depressed people were rated by the team - who looked at 15 prior studies - to be at a 58 per cent greater risk of becoming obese than their peers.

However, the relationship was found to be reciprocal, with obese people identified as having an elevated risk (55 per cent) of developing depression.

Writing in the Archives of General Psychiatry, the Dutch doctors said: "Both depression and obesity are widely spread problems with major public health implications."

They suggested that a greater awareness of the link could help improve prevention, early detection and treatment of those at risk from depression and obesity.

Meanwhile, research published in the Pediatrics journal has suggested that obese children as young as three years old show markers that suggest an increased likelihood of cardiac problems in later life.

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