Obese people are less likely to commit suicide

According to a study published in latimes.com, the obese people have lower risk of suicide. Scientists think it may be related to their higher production of insulin and other hormones that affect mood. Report says that bese men were 42% less likely to commit suicide than those at the lower end of the normal-weight range.

Lead author Kenneth J. Mukamal of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston said, this study was not applicable to women because of hormone differences related to gender. He also said, the stigma of obesity falls more heavily on women, causing anxiety and other adverse effects on mood. "Men can be jolly and fat,"

"The research was based on the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, a survey of 45,000 men — dentists, veterinarians, optometrists and others — that began in 1986. The study examined the relationship between suicide and body mass index, a ratio of weight to height. For example, a man who is 6 feet tall and weighs 154 pounds has a body mass index, or BMI, of 21. Researchers looked at men with BMIs ranging from below 20, which is considered underweight, to those above 30, which is considered obese."