Does clinical depression affect the accuracy of self-reported height and weight in obese women?

Recent research from a self-report survey showed a strong association between obesity and clinical depression in women. The present analysis assessed whether differential bias in self-reports of height and weight as a function of depression influences the apparent strength of the association.

Accuracy of self-reported height and weight was assessed in 250 obese (mean BMI=38.7 kg/m(2)) women, 135 of whom met the American Psychiatric Association DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for clinical depression.

Depressed and non-depressed women underreported their weight by 1.5 and 1.2 kg, respectively. They underreported their height by 0.002 and 0.003 m, respectively.

Bias in self-reports of body weight and height is similar in depressed and non-depressed obese women. The underreporting of weight in both groups is similar in magnitude to that seen in normal weight women. Thus, using self-reports of height and weight seems unlikely to bias estimates of the association between obesity and clinical depression in women.