Background
Obesity is a worldwide epidemic problem.
Aim
To investigate the role of obesity on body image, frequency of anxiety, depression disorders and DNA damage in a sample of Egyptian women.
Methods
The study included 172 women, 84 were obese and 88 were age-matched nonobese women.
Results
Obese women showed significant higher frequency of abnormal body image (77.4%) as compared with the nonobese (42%) (< 0.0001). Moreover, they had significant higher frequencies of severe anxiety (26.2%) and depression (41.7%) than nonobese women (2.3 and 18.2%, respectively) ( < 0.001). Leukocyte DNA damage was evaluated by comet assay and revealed high DNA damage in obese women.
Conclusion
Obesity is a potential risk factor for abnormal body image, anxiety, depression, and DNA damage among Egyptian women. Identifying the psychological problems in obese women is essential to improve quality of life and promote management and prevention.