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Association of Western and traditional diets with depression and anxiety in women
High-prevalence mental disorders in women
Through the use of food frequency questionnaires and factor analysis (to determine habitual dietary pattern), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12 [to measure psychological symptoms]) and a structured clinical interview (to assess depressive and anxiety disorders), Jacka et al. (2010) examined the extent to which high-prevalence mental disorders are related to habitual diet in 1,046 women aged 20-93 years (randomly selected from the population). After making adjustments in the factor analysis for age, socioeconomic status, education, and health behaviors, a “western” diet of processed or fried foods, refined grains, sugary products, and beer was associated with a higher GHQ-12 score. A “traditional” dietary habit (composed of vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and whole grains) was linked to lower risk of developing major depression or dysthymia (persistent depression) and anxiety disorders. There was also an inverse association between diet quality score and GHQ-12 score that was not confounded by age, socioeconomic status, education, or other health behaviors. Although these findings demonstrated an association between habitual diet quality and the high-prevalence mental disorders, additional studies are warranted. [NPID: depression, anxiety, mental disorders, Western-style diet, WS diet, major depression disorder, MDD, dysthymia]
Year: 2010
