Table 1.

Published Studies on Racial/Ethnic Variation in the Association Between Obesity and Depression in Women in the United States

	Measurement
Source	Depression/depressive symptoms	Obesity	Age, mean (range)	n	Results
Longitudinal design
(Merten et al. 2008)24 Add Health	CESD	BMI: self-report	(12–18) at baseline	4102	• Obesitya→DS for Whites and Blacks
(Needham et al. 2010)12,b CARDIA	CESD	BMI, WC: objective	30 at baseline	4643	• No BMI→DS association for Whites or Blacks • No WC→DS association for Whites or Blacks
(Sachs-Ericsson et al. 2007)c EPESE	CESD	BMI: self-report	73 for Whites at baseline; 72 for Blacks at baseline	2406	• Obesity→DS for Blacks but not Whites
Cross-sectional design
(BeLue et al. 2009)d NSCH	Depression/anxiety problem: parent-reporte	BMI: parent-report	(12–17)	35,184	• Obesity associated with depression/anxiety for Whites and Hispanics but not Blacks
(Dong et al. 2004)	History of treatment for depression	BMI: objective	(14+)	1003	• BMI associated with depression for Whites and Blacks
(Heo et al. 2006)29 BRFSS	≥7, ≥14 days depressed mood in last 30 days	BMI: self-report	(18+)	19,997	• Obesity associated with ≥7-day depressed mood for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics • Obesity associated with ≥14-day depressed mood for Whites but not Blacks or Hispanics
(Gavin et al. 2010) CPES	CIDI	BMI: self-report	44	8299	• Obesity associated with 12-month MDD for Whites, but not Blacks or Hispanics
(Carpenter et al. 2000)30 NLAES	AUDADIS	BMI: self-report	44f	23,322	• Obesity associated with depression for Whites and Blacks
(Simon et al. 2006)32,g NCS-R	CIDI	BMI: self-report	45	9125	• Obesity associated with lifetime mood disorder in Whites but not Blacks or Hispanics
(Blazer et al. 2002)23,h EPESE	CESD	BMI: self-report	(65+)	4162	• Blacks and Whites showed similar high BMI/DS comorbidity

Note: If associations are reported, they are positive.

^aObesity in children and adolescents is determined to be a BMI≥95th percentile based on gender-specific percentiles developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

^bAnalyses were not stratified/interacted with both race/ethnicity and gender, so there are no racial/ethnic comparisons in women only. Neither men nor women showed the BMI→DS or waist→DS association.

^cAnalyses were not stratified by gender; however, interactions with race and gender were not statistically significant. Interactions with race alone were statistically significant.

^dAnalyses were not stratified/interacted by gender. Results presented were stratified by race/ethnicity, adjusting for gender.

^eParents were asked the question: “Has a health professional ever told you that your child has a problem with depression or anxiety?”

^fMean age was reported only for the entire sample, which included both men and women. Mean age, stratified by BMI category, and gender was reported for women as: underweight, 40; normal 46; obese, 47.

^gResults were not reported stratified by race and gender, so results reported here are for men and women together.

^hResults were not reported stratified by gender, so results reported here are for men and women together.

→ is associated with “later”; Add Health, National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health; AUDIDIS, Alcohol Use Disorders and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule; BMI, body mass index; BRFSS, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey; CARDIA, Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults; CESD, Center for Epidemiology Studies—Depression; CIDI, Composite International Diagnostic Interview; CPES, Comprehensive Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys; DS, depressive symptoms; EPESE, Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly; MDD, major depressive disorder; NCS-R, National Comorbidity Survey Replication; NLAES, National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Study; NSCH, National Study of Children's Health; WC, waist circumference.