Weight loss said by researchers to be tied to mood

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Carol Forsloff - Very often weight problems and depression go hand in hand, so researchers say that treating the foundation problems might help women lose weight.

In fact what research has found is that improving mood might be the link to weight loss.

This new study, which is in the November/December issue of the Journal of
General Hospital Psychiatry has looked at those having a body mass index
of 30 or more increases the risk of depression from 50 to 150 percent.

“I expect that the relationship between depression and physical activity
goes in both directions,” Gregory Simon, M.D., of Group Health Research
Institute in Seattle was quoted by Behavioral Health News. “Increased
physical activity leads to improvement in depression and improvement in
depression leads to increased physical activity. We see in our study
that they go together, but we can’t say which causes which.”

To
make this conclusion Simon and his associates examined 203 overweight
women, focusing on weight loss and depression and found that treating
the depression had a decided positive effect in weight loss.

“Most
weight loss programs do not pay enough attention to screening and
treatment of depression,” said Babak Roshanaei-Moghaddam, M.D., of the
psychiatry and behavioral sciences department at the University of
Washington in Seattle. “This study further underscores the importance of
screening for depression in such programs that can potentially lead to

both physical and psychological well-being.”