Everyone's Health

Fat may be dangerous, but you won't kill yourself?

Weight and suicide

That fat people are jolly is a myth, but a study has found a strong association between higher body mass index, or BMI, and lower risk of suicide.

In a 16-year study that followed more than 45,000 male health professionals, researchers found a steady decrease in suicides as BMI increased, even after controlling for smoking, dietary factors, physical activity, marital status and alcohol use. There were 131 suicides during the study.

Compared with those in the lowest 20 percent in BMI, men in the highest one-fifth were almost 60 percent less likely to kill themselves.

The authors, writing in the Archives of Internal Medicine, suggest that BMI could be linked to suicide through circulating levels of insulin, which may have a role in mood.

The authors point out that depression and medicines used to treat it may lead to higher BMI, and that the relationship among depression, antidepressant medicine and the risk of suicide is complex. They also acknowledged that they did not have information on suicide attempts, and that the group was not representative of the general population.

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