Association between body mass index and happiness among young adults in Taiwan: a cross-sectional study

TL;DR

This study found that higher happiness levels in young adults in Taiwan are linked to higher BMI and lower risk of being underweight.

Contribution

The study provides new evidence on the association between happiness and BMI in young adults in Taiwan.

Findings

Happier young adults had significantly higher BMI than very unhappy individuals.

Higher happiness levels were associated with reduced risk of being underweight.

The association remained significant after adjusting for potential confounders.

Abstract

Body mass index (BMI) is widely used as an indicator of physical health and has been associated with various psychological and social outcomes. While previous studies have explored the link between BMI and mental wellbeing, findings remain inconsistent, especially among young adults. This study aimed to examine the associations between BMI and self-reported happiness among young adults in Taiwan.

A cross-sectional study was conducted using secondary datasets from the Taiwan National Physical Activity Survey, a nationally representative survey of the Taiwanese population. A total of 10,638 young adults aged 18–44 years were enrolled in this study between August and October 2020. Demographic characteristics, self-reported health status, self-evaluations (comprising height, body weight, BMI, and happiness levels), and residence zip codes were among the data obtained through the national telephone survey.

The results revealed that, participants in very happy (β = 3.167, p < 0.001), happy (β = 3.239, p < 0.001), fair (β = 3.058, p < 0.001), and unhappy (β = 2.942, p < 0.001) groups exhibited a significantly higher BMI than did participants in very unhappy group. After adjusting for potential confounders, the very happy, happy, fair, and unhappy groups showed statistically associated with underweight risk reduction (OR = 0.196, 95% CI: 0.061–0.633; OR = 0.258, 95% CI: 0.085–0.785; OR = 0.271, 95% CI: 0.083–0.882; OR = 0.222, 95% CI: 0.069–0.714).

Overall, this study revealed that happiness levels were positively associated with BMI, and the increments of happiness levels may have reducing the risk of underweight occurrence.