Authors
Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Center, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Abstract
Background: Understanding the association between psychological affective disturbances
and anthropometric parameters, including body mass index (BMI), is important. These issues
may have potential preventive effects on weight reduction in relation to different aspects
of women’s lifestyles and psychopathological states. The present study aimed to predict
BMI based on psychological factors including; depression, anxiety, dietary restraint, and
nutritional habits, in a sample of women with sedentary jobs in several Iranian governmental
organizations. Methods: Two hundred consecutive women aged over 25 years, working on
sedentary or low standing works such as banker, teachers, and employee in the social security
organizations in Isfahan, Iran, were entered the study. To assess the severity of depression
and anxiety symptoms, the Beck Depression Inventory II and the State‑Trait Anxiety Inventory
were used, respectively. To assess nutritional habits, a self‑administered questionnaire was
designed, and to evaluate dietary restraint status, the Ruderman questionnaire was used. To
find the co‑relationship between BMI and each of the psychological components, Pearson’s
correlation coefficient test was applied. Results: To assess the relationship between BMI
and each of the psychological components, a multivariate regression model was used. Only
two components of nutritional habits (b = −0.19, P < 0.001) and dietary restraint (b = 0.51,
P < 0.001) could effectively predict BMI in Iranian women; while depression and anxiety
components had low predictive values for predicting BMI. In total, these four variables could
predict 34% of the variance of the dependent indicator (BMI). Conclusion: Nutritional habits
and dietary restraint have high value for predicting BMI status in women aged more than
25 years working in sedentary jobs, while BMI status could not be predicted by assessing
depression or anxiety severity.
Keywords
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