Women struggling with obesity and depression significantly improved their moods and lost weight in a new UMass Medical School study featured in today’s Business Matters section in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Sherry Pagoto, PhD, associate professor of medicine, said the results of the two-year “Be Active” clinical study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, showed that treating obesity helps women to manage depression.
“(Participants) wanted to be more active and shift the way they spend time, to do what they value more from life,” Dr. Pagoto told the Telegram. “The take-home of this paper is that treating someone for their obesity is not likely to make their depression worse, and pretty likely to make it better.”
Participant Kim English, of Worcester, said the study helped understand how depression affects one’s diet.
“My mood improved because this gave me power over food. You had control,” English said.
Read the full story at:
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130506/NEWS/105069996/1002/business
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