The mediating role of body roundness index in the association between dietary inflammatory index and depression: evidence from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2023

ObjectiveDietary inflammatory index (DII) and body roundness index (BRI) have been reported to be independently associated with an increased risk of depression. The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating role of BRI in the relationship between DII and depression.MethodsA total of 32,210...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Weige Duan, Jian Ma, Shanglan Qu, Jing Zhang, Min Li, Lizhu Jiang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychiatry
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1605449/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850105531649228800
author Weige Duan
Jian Ma
Shanglan Qu
Jing Zhang
Min Li
Lizhu Jiang
author_facet Weige Duan
Jian Ma
Shanglan Qu
Jing Zhang
Min Li
Lizhu Jiang
author_sort Weige Duan
collection DOAJ
description ObjectiveDietary inflammatory index (DII) and body roundness index (BRI) have been reported to be independently associated with an increased risk of depression. The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating role of BRI in the relationship between DII and depression.MethodsA total of 32,210 adults were recruited from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES; 2007–2023). Depression was assessed with Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), DII and BRI were calculated for each participant. Weighted multivariate logistic regressions, Spearman’s correlation, and mediation analysis were performed.ResultsA higher DII was significantly associated with an increased risk of depression (OR=1.68, 95% CI: 1.32–2.13, p<0.001). Compared with the lowest quintile (Q1) of BRI, individuals in the highest quintile (Q5) showed a significantly higher risk of depression (OR=1.90, 95% CI: 1.08–3.36, p=0.027). Furthermore, both DII (r=0.071) and BRI (r=0.112) were positively correlated with depressive symptoms, and DII was also positively correlated with BRI (r=0.118), all p<0.001. Of note, BRI partially mediated the relationship between DII and depression (indirect effect 0.002, 95% CI: 0.001–0.003), accounting for 10.7% of the total effect. The mediating effect of BRI was verified in both male and female population.ConclusionsThis study firstly identified a mediating role of BRI in the association between DII and depressive symptoms, suggesting that visceral obesity may be an important pathway through which dietary inflammation affects depression. Our findings may provide evidence-based insights to guide targeted interventions to prevent depression at the population level.
format Article
id doaj-art-0de6e5bc907042bdb04b2b68f9ce3f1c
institution OA Journals
issn 1664-0640
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Psychiatry
spelling doaj-art-0de6e5bc907042bdb04b2b68f9ce3f1c2025-08-20T02:39:03ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402025-07-011610.3389/fpsyt.2025.16054491605449The mediating role of body roundness index in the association between dietary inflammatory index and depression: evidence from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2023Weige Duan0Jian Ma1Shanglan Qu2Jing Zhang3Min Li4Lizhu Jiang5School of Nursing, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan, ChinaSchool of Health and Wellness, Yunnan Technology and Business University, Songming Vocational Education New City, Kunming, ChinaSchool of Health and Wellness, Yunnan Technology and Business University, Songming Vocational Education New City, Kunming, ChinaSchool of Health and Wellness, Yunnan Technology and Business University, Songming Vocational Education New City, Kunming, ChinaSchool of Nursing, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan, ChinaDepartment of Clinical Psychology, The Third People’s Hospital of Yunnan Province, Kunming, ChinaObjectiveDietary inflammatory index (DII) and body roundness index (BRI) have been reported to be independently associated with an increased risk of depression. The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating role of BRI in the relationship between DII and depression.MethodsA total of 32,210 adults were recruited from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES; 2007–2023). Depression was assessed with Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), DII and BRI were calculated for each participant. Weighted multivariate logistic regressions, Spearman’s correlation, and mediation analysis were performed.ResultsA higher DII was significantly associated with an increased risk of depression (OR=1.68, 95% CI: 1.32–2.13, p<0.001). Compared with the lowest quintile (Q1) of BRI, individuals in the highest quintile (Q5) showed a significantly higher risk of depression (OR=1.90, 95% CI: 1.08–3.36, p=0.027). Furthermore, both DII (r=0.071) and BRI (r=0.112) were positively correlated with depressive symptoms, and DII was also positively correlated with BRI (r=0.118), all p<0.001. Of note, BRI partially mediated the relationship between DII and depression (indirect effect 0.002, 95% CI: 0.001–0.003), accounting for 10.7% of the total effect. The mediating effect of BRI was verified in both male and female population.ConclusionsThis study firstly identified a mediating role of BRI in the association between DII and depressive symptoms, suggesting that visceral obesity may be an important pathway through which dietary inflammation affects depression. Our findings may provide evidence-based insights to guide targeted interventions to prevent depression at the population level.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1605449/fulldietary inflammatory indexbody roundness indexdepressionmediation analysisNational Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
spellingShingle Weige Duan
Jian Ma
Shanglan Qu
Jing Zhang
Min Li
Lizhu Jiang
The mediating role of body roundness index in the association between dietary inflammatory index and depression: evidence from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2023
Frontiers in Psychiatry
dietary inflammatory index
body roundness index
depression
mediation analysis
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
title The mediating role of body roundness index in the association between dietary inflammatory index and depression: evidence from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2023
title_full The mediating role of body roundness index in the association between dietary inflammatory index and depression: evidence from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2023
title_fullStr The mediating role of body roundness index in the association between dietary inflammatory index and depression: evidence from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2023
title_full_unstemmed The mediating role of body roundness index in the association between dietary inflammatory index and depression: evidence from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2023
title_short The mediating role of body roundness index in the association between dietary inflammatory index and depression: evidence from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2023
title_sort mediating role of body roundness index in the association between dietary inflammatory index and depression evidence from the us national health and nutrition examination survey 2007 2023
topic dietary inflammatory index
body roundness index
depression
mediation analysis
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1605449/full
work_keys_str_mv AT weigeduan themediatingroleofbodyroundnessindexintheassociationbetweendietaryinflammatoryindexanddepressionevidencefromtheusnationalhealthandnutritionexaminationsurvey20072023
AT jianma themediatingroleofbodyroundnessindexintheassociationbetweendietaryinflammatoryindexanddepressionevidencefromtheusnationalhealthandnutritionexaminationsurvey20072023
AT shanglanqu themediatingroleofbodyroundnessindexintheassociationbetweendietaryinflammatoryindexanddepressionevidencefromtheusnationalhealthandnutritionexaminationsurvey20072023
AT jingzhang themediatingroleofbodyroundnessindexintheassociationbetweendietaryinflammatoryindexanddepressionevidencefromtheusnationalhealthandnutritionexaminationsurvey20072023
AT minli themediatingroleofbodyroundnessindexintheassociationbetweendietaryinflammatoryindexanddepressionevidencefromtheusnationalhealthandnutritionexaminationsurvey20072023
AT lizhujiang themediatingroleofbodyroundnessindexintheassociationbetweendietaryinflammatoryindexanddepressionevidencefromtheusnationalhealthandnutritionexaminationsurvey20072023
AT weigeduan mediatingroleofbodyroundnessindexintheassociationbetweendietaryinflammatoryindexanddepressionevidencefromtheusnationalhealthandnutritionexaminationsurvey20072023
AT jianma mediatingroleofbodyroundnessindexintheassociationbetweendietaryinflammatoryindexanddepressionevidencefromtheusnationalhealthandnutritionexaminationsurvey20072023
AT shanglanqu mediatingroleofbodyroundnessindexintheassociationbetweendietaryinflammatoryindexanddepressionevidencefromtheusnationalhealthandnutritionexaminationsurvey20072023
AT jingzhang mediatingroleofbodyroundnessindexintheassociationbetweendietaryinflammatoryindexanddepressionevidencefromtheusnationalhealthandnutritionexaminationsurvey20072023
AT minli mediatingroleofbodyroundnessindexintheassociationbetweendietaryinflammatoryindexanddepressionevidencefromtheusnationalhealthandnutritionexaminationsurvey20072023
AT lizhujiang mediatingroleofbodyroundnessindexintheassociationbetweendietaryinflammatoryindexanddepressionevidencefromtheusnationalhealthandnutritionexaminationsurvey20072023