RESEARCH ARTICLE Is the Relationship between Common Mental Disorder and Adiposity Bidirectional? Prospective Analyses of a UK General Population-Based Study

The direction of the association between mental health and adiposity is poorly understood. Our objective was to empirically examine this link in a UK study. This is a prospective cohort study of 3 388 people (men) aged 18 years at study induction who participated in both the UK Health and Lifestyle Survey at baseline (HALS-1, 1984/1985) and the re-survey (HALS-2, 1991/1992). At both survey examinations, body mass index, waist circumference and self-reported common mental disorder (the 30-item General Health Questionnaire, GHQ) were measured. Logistic regression models were used to compute odds ratios (OR) and ac-companying 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for the associations between (1) baseline com-mon mental disorder (QHQ score> 4) and subsequent general and abdominal obesity and (2) baseline general and abdominal obesity and re-survey common mental disorders. After controlling for a range of covariates, participants with common mental disorder at baseline experienced greater odds of subsequently becoming overweight (women, OR: 1.30, 1.03 – 1.64; men, 1.05, 0.81 – 1.38) and obese (women, 1.26, 0.82 – 1.94; men, OR: 2.10, 1.23 – 3.55) than those who were free of common mental disorder. Similarly, having baseline com