Suicide and body mass index

Abstract

Introduction

It has been suggested that there is a relationship between BMI and suicide. Thus, BMI of subjects who commit suicide would be lower than the BMI of other unnatural deaths (Flaig 2013).

Objectives

Explore the possible relationship between BMI and suicide.

Material and methods

A total of 1197 suicides and 473 unnatural deaths (not by suicide) were collected systematically for 60 months at the Institute of Legal Medicine of Seville. Age, sex, weight, height and cause of death were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v19.0.

Results

(Figure 1)

Discussion

In our study we found that suicide (of all age groups and both sexes) have a lower BMI than controls. However, the relationship between these two variables is complex and not all studies support it. Moreover, the relationships between depression, suicide and overweight point in different directions. More and more studies indicate the existence of a relationship between depression and overweight, suggesting that perhaps the “epidemic” of depression and overweight that we see in Western societies has some connection. In addition, depression is a risk factor for suicide well established. Our results indicate that suicide group tends to have lower BMI (less weight in relation to its size) than the controls.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Fig. 1