The relationship between metabolically healthy obesity and suicidal ideation

Background Obesity is a major public health issue. This present study aims to verify the relationship between metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) and suicidal thoughts. Methods Data were collected from a total of 299,594 medical checkup recipients. Frequency analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyze participants’ general characteristics. To analyze the relationship between metabolic phenotype and suicidal ideation, we computed the cross-ratios after compensating for age, depression, and insomnia by using multivariate logistics regression analysis. Results In an analysis of metabolic phenotype, suicidal thoughts were found to have decreased for moderate waist circumference (74.0–79.1 cm) for women who were >40 years old in the metabolically healthy (MH) group. In contrast, although severe abdominal obesity was associated with increased suicide risk, it was not found to be significantly related to suicide risk when considered together with emotional difficulties such as depression. Limitations This study used only self-report test was conducted to evaluate emotional problems. Conclusions Severe abdominal obesity did not affect suicidal thoughts for either sex when feelings of depression were considered. However, we confirmed that moderate waist circumference could be a protection factor of suicide for those who were >40 years old in the MH group.