The Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Waist Circumference Among Normal‐Weight Individuals in the Peruvian Population: A 3‐Year Pooled Cross‐Sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Limited information is available on the association between depressive symptoms and waist circumference (WC) in individuals with normal weight. This study aimed to analyze the association between depressive symptoms and WC among individuals aged 18 years or older with normal weight in the Peruvian population between 2019 and 2021. METHODS: Analytical cross-sectional study. Data from the Peruvian Demographic and Health Survey (2019-2021) were analyzed. The sample consisted of 26 933 participants. The outcome variable was WC. The exposure variables included the overall Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) score and severity of depressive symptoms. Generalized linear models of the Gaussian family estimated the effects with β coefficients for the associations between WC and depressive symptoms stratified by age and sex. RESULTS: A significant inverse association was observed between depressive symptoms and WC in young (< 35 years) individuals of both sexes. In young males, a dose-response relationship emerged, with greater severity of depressive symptoms associated with progressively lower WC. Specifically, inverse associations were found for moderate (β = -1.74, 95% CI: -3.25 to -0.23), moderately severe (β = -2.81, 95% CI: -4.71 to -0.91), and severe (β = -2.75, 95% CI: -5.11 to -0.40) depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Among young individuals of both sexes with a normal weight, depressive symptoms were inversely associated with WC. These findings underscore the need for nuanced considerations of age and sex when exploring the interplay of depression and abdominal adiposity in individuals with normal weight.