Depression, Disordered Eating and Obesity: A Qualitative Study

Obesity affects 43% of men and 59% of women in Kuwait (Ng et al., 2014). This is the highest rate of obesity among adults in the Middle East and in the top ten in the global population. Despite surmounting evidence of genetic, diet, and lifestyle factors that contribute to obesity, there is a lack of consensus regarding the relationships between depression, disordered eating patterns, and obesity. The purpose of this study is to interview people in Kuwait regarding their emotional wellbeing, their eating habits and perceptions of food, and how they feel these factors impact their weight and overall quality of life. Given that there may be a reciprocal relationship between depression and obesity based on previous studies, we also want to understand how people`s weight impacts their emotional wellbeing. This study will be used to shed further light on the results of a previous, quantitative study (Psychological riskfactors ofobesity: using the eating attitudes test-26 and the patient health questionnaire — 9 as indicators). The interviews will be analyzed using content analysis and the themes generated will be used to gain a deeper understanding of how sociocultural variations in Kuwait influence these relationships. The purpose of this project to help physicians and allied health professionals identify the psychological risk factors of disordered eating and obesity to provide a more holistic, evidence-based approach to clinical and lifestyle interventions for their patients with the goal of reducing the burden of obesity and associated risk factors in Kuwait.