Pathways linking BMI trajectories and mental health in an adult population-based cohort: role of emotional eating and body dissatisfaction
Authors' conclusion
Emotional eating and body dissatisfaction contribute to the association between BMI trajectories and mental health and should be considered in weight management and mental health promotion strategies.
Study context
- Population
- Adults in the Specchio cohort (Geneva, Switzerland); 59% women, mean age 51 years
- Participants
- 7,388 adults
- Outcome
- Association between BMI trajectories (personal slopes; upward BMI category transition) and mental health outcomes, with emotional eating and body dissatisfaction as mediators
- Follow-up
- 4 years
Methodological detailsmixed-effects models, structural equation modelling, adjusted for age, sex, education and physical health condition
- Mixed-effects models
- Structural equation modelling
- Adjusted for age, sex, education and physical health condition
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
4-year follow-up
Factors associated with increasing BMI: financial hardship, short sleep, less physical activity, more leisure screen time, depressive and anxiety symptoms, emotional eating
0.03 [0, 0.05]-0.12 [0.09, 0.15] (β range [95% CI])
Increasing BMI and body dissatisfaction
0.36 [0.33, 0.38] (β [95% CI])
Increasing BMI and quality of life
−0.06 [−0.09, −0.03] (β [95% CI])
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Mediation
- Emotional eating partly mediated the association of baseline anxiety and depressive symptoms, and of financial hardship, with increasing BMI
- Body dissatisfaction and poorer self-rated health partly mediated the association between increasing BMI and quality of life at follow-up
Original publication
Pathways linking BMI trajectories and mental health in an adult population-based cohort: role of emotional eating and body dissatisfaction. Int J Obes (Lond). Published 7 April 2025. doi:10.
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