Takeaway
- Diet quality, intake of fruit and vegetables and intake of fish showed no association with depressive symptoms in adolescence.
- Better diet quality during adolescence showed no contribution to the reduced risk for current or future depressive symptoms.
Why this matters
- Adolescent depression is a major risk factor for depression recurrence later in life and also for anxiety disorders, substance-related disorders, and bipolar disorder.
- Reviews and meta-analyses of published evidence from cross-sectional and prospective studies have concluded that a healthy diet in adulthood is associated with a reduced risk of depression.
Study design
- Prospective community-based cohort study of 603 participants with reported depressive symptoms.
- Participants were assessed using Mediterranean diet score and Moods and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ).
- Funding: Wellcome Trust and NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Research and Care East of England.
Key results
- Overall, mean age of the participants was 14.5 years.
- Negative association between fruit and vegetable intake and MFQ score was seen before adjustment for behavioural covariates, including smoking and alcohol consumption (β, − 0.40; 95% CI, −0.71 to − 0.10), but ceased to exist after adjustments.
- No cross-sectional associations were found between MDS or fish intake and depressive symptoms
- No prospective associations were found between MDS, fruit and vegetable intake or fish intake and later MFQ score.
Limitations
- Risk for bias.
- Self-reported measures.
References
References