According to WHO, obesity and depression are among the greatest Public Health problems worldwide. Some studies show important association between these diseases that can worsen the prognostic for co-morbidities, reduce compliance with treatment, increase morbidity and mortality, and deteriorate the functional and psychosocial roles of obese people. This paper comes out from a Master thesis research in Family Health, aiming to investigate the perception of depressed obese people about the factors linked with the maintenance of their obesity. This is a qualitative exploratory study in a Family Health Service in Rio de Janeiro city. Sixty-eight obese people were randomly selected, and, among them, 21 showed depression scores, measured by the Beck Depression Inventory. Out of these, 19 were interviewed and the resulting data were analyzed through the content analysis technique. Some of the main categories found were physical suffering, sedentary behavior, emotional suffering, self-image dissatisfaction, inadequate eating behavior, family and social relationships, and the motivation for change. They were grouped in five thematic axes: the perception of one's obesity, the feed behavior, the family environment, the social retraction, and the lack of motivation. Taken together, the perceptions of these people were mapped in a complex net of mutually reinforcing factors associated with the maintenance of the obesity, and this is aggravated by depression. These results could help to conceive new strategies for an integral and specific care of obese people, mostly those who are depressed.
obesity; depression; self-concept; feeding behavior; Family Health Program
