title: Relationship between body mass index and depressive symptoms: the "fat and jolly" hypothesis for the middle-aged and elderly in China.
abstract: Obesity has been identified as a worldwide epidemic. In China, the highest prevalence of obesity is observed in adults aged ≥45 years old. This study aimed to describe the association between BMI and depressive symptoms among a large representative sample of middle-aged and elderly in China.
  
  
  
  A longitudinal sample of the middle-aged and elderly (6,224 males and 6,883 females) who were interviewed in the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study was used. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the effects of socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle, activity status, health status, physical exercise and body weight on depressive symptoms.
  
  
  
  Approximately 6.94% of the males were underweight, 25.48% were overweight and 8.16% were obese. A higher prevalence of obesity was found among women, with 6.89% being underweight, 31.98% overweight and 14.28% obese. The underweight subjects were more likely to be depressed (odds ratio; OR = 1.30 and 1.19) compared with the normal weight people, respectively, whereas overweight and obese men and women were less likely to be depressed (overweight: OR = 0.76 and 0.80; obesity: OR = 0.64 and 0.65, respectively) than people of normal weight.
  
  
  
  Our data are consistent with the "fat and jolly" hypothesis being valid in both middle-aged and elderly men and women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Nursing, School of Nursing, Jinzhou Medical University, No.40, Section 3, Songpo Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Nursing, School of Nursing, Jinzhou Medical University, No.40, Section 3, Songpo Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing, Jinzhou Medical University, No.40, Section 3, Songpo Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Center, School of Nursing, Jinzhou Medical University, No.40, Section 3, Songpo Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Nursing, School of Nursing, Jinzhou Medical University, No.40, Section 3, Songpo Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhuo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, No.28, Section 2, Chongqing Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing, Jinzhou Medical University, No.40, Section 3, Songpo Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China. 275316050@qq.com.
authors.forename: Lei-Lei
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: Body mass index; Depressive symptoms; Fat and jolly; Middle-aged and elderly; Obesity