Depressed more likely to be obese, smoke

ATLANTA, March 5 (UPI) -- People who suffer from depression or anxiety are much more likely to be obese and to smoke, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found.

Lead author Tara Strine compiled data from more than 200,000 adults in 38 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.All participated in the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a large telephone survey that monitors the prevalence of key health behaviors.

The study, published in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry, found 8.7 percent of the respondents had current depression, 15.7 percent had a previous depression diagnosis and 11.3 percent had had an anxiety diagnosis at some time.

People with depression or a previous diagnosis of depression were 60 percent more likely to be obese and twice as likely to smoke as those who were not depressed, the researchers said.

Those with an anxiety disorder were 30 percent more likely to be obese and twice as likely to smoke as those without anxiety were, the study said.