Body mass index, body weight perception and common mental disorders among university employees in Rio de Janeiro Índice de massa corporal, percepção do peso corpo- ral e transtornos mentais comuns entre funcionários de uma universidade no Rio de Janeiro

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that inadequate self-perception of body weight with or without obesity would be associated with common mental disorders (CMD). Method: We analyzed cross-sectional data from 4,030 university employees participating in the longitudinal Pró-Saúde Study Phase 1 (1999) in Rio de Janeiro. Participants (22-59 years of age) were invited to fill out a questionnaire that includes an evaluation of common mental disorders by General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Body mass index (BMI=kg/m2) was calculated based on measured weight and height, and participants self-classified their own current body weight as highly above ideal, slightly above ideal, ideal, slightly below ideal or highly below ideal. Results: Among woman 58.3% of those with body mass index lower than 25.0 kg/m2 considered themselves as being above ideal weight; for men, this proportion was 23.5%. Multivariate logistic regression adjusted for age, income, leisure-time physical activity, self-reported health problem and body mass index, showed that body weight perception highly above ideal had a strong association with common mental disordersamong women (OR=1.84, 95%CI= 1.22-2.76). For women but not men, body mass index showed a borderline association with common mental disorders (p-trend=0.05) that did not persist after adjustment for income and self-reported health problem. Conclusion: Inadequate body weight perception, independent of body mass index, was associated with common mental disorders in women, but not men. One possible explanation for this association may be the socio-cultural pressure placed on women to conform the thinness ideal.