Many of my clients tell me that their lives will be much better if only they could lose weight. They will be happier, more successful at work and more likely to find a life partner.
To an extent this way of thinking suggests waiting until the weight has gone before getting on with important aspects of life - "I will defer looking for a partner until I am thinner". When our happiness is contingent on our being thinner, then happiness might elude us. We go on a diet, the results don't come quickly enough and we give up, feel bad about ourselves for failing, so we start eating again and continue to defer cherished goals.
So will we really be happier if we are thinner? Certainly feeling bad about ourselves can drive weight gain but will weight loss actually improve mood?
This question has been addressed by Anthony Fabricatore and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania in a paper just published in the International Journal of Obesity.
The authors analysed 31 research studieson the relationship between weight loss and depression, involving 8,000 people.
Comprehensive lifestyle modification was found to be better at reducing symptoms of depression than control (where nothing was done to the patients) and non-dieting interventions. Lifestyle modification was also marginally better in improving mood than dietary counseling or exercise-alone programs. Exercise-alone programmess were superior to control interventsions in reducing symptoms of depression
Nearly all active interventions reduced symptoms of depression but there was no relationship between the amount of weight lost and the reduction in depression symptoms.
This analysis suggests that the lifestyle modifications intended to reduce weight tend to improve mood, rather than losing weight leading to less depression.
This of course would not be hard to believe given the evidence that both dietary intake of certain (unhealthy) nutrients as well as increased physical activity can significantly decrease symptoms of depression.
So my clients who tell me that they that they would be so much less depressed if only they could lose some weight, is not borne out by these results. A more varied and active lifestyle will probably improve their mood irrespective of whether or not they actually lose weight. So get out more, go to that Zumba class, meet more people, walk to work, eat fewer crisps, watch less telly. You will feel better, and you are more likely then to lose weight.
To an extent this way of thinking suggests waiting until the weight has gone before getting on with important aspects of life - "I will defer looking for a partner until I am thinner". When our happiness is contingent on our being thinner, then happiness might elude us. We go on a diet, the results don't come quickly enough and we give up, feel bad about ourselves for failing, so we start eating again and continue to defer cherished goals.
So will we really be happier if we are thinner? Certainly feeling bad about ourselves can drive weight gain but will weight loss actually improve mood?
This question has been addressed by Anthony Fabricatore and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania in a paper just published in the International Journal of Obesity.
The authors analysed 31 research studieson the relationship between weight loss and depression, involving 8,000 people.
Comprehensive lifestyle modification was found to be better at reducing symptoms of depression than control (where nothing was done to the patients) and non-dieting interventions. Lifestyle modification was also marginally better in improving mood than dietary counseling or exercise-alone programs. Exercise-alone programmess were superior to control interventsions in reducing symptoms of depression
Nearly all active interventions reduced symptoms of depression but there was no relationship between the amount of weight lost and the reduction in depression symptoms.
This analysis suggests that the lifestyle modifications intended to reduce weight tend to improve mood, rather than losing weight leading to less depression.
This of course would not be hard to believe given the evidence that both dietary intake of certain (unhealthy) nutrients as well as increased physical activity can significantly decrease symptoms of depression.
So my clients who tell me that they that they would be so much less depressed if only they could lose some weight, is not borne out by these results. A more varied and active lifestyle will probably improve their mood irrespective of whether or not they actually lose weight. So get out more, go to that Zumba class, meet more people, walk to work, eat fewer crisps, watch less telly. You will feel better, and you are more likely then to lose weight.
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