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Diet, exercise, lifestyle, and mental distress among young and mature men and women: A repeated cross-sectional study
In this cross-sectional study by Begdache et al. (2021), the authors highlight the crucial distinction in brain maturation that needs to be acknowledged when tailoring mental health therapies for young (18-29 years) and more mature (30 years and above) patient populations, in addition to acknowledgement of gender-influenced morphological differences, and endeavored to discern dietary and lifestyle factors influencing mental health in these sub-populations. Collecting data across a 5-year period (2014-2019, including 2,628 records), the analyses revealed that mental stress in young women and men was linked to high caffeine and fast food intake, and that moderate to high levels of exercise and frequently having breakfast significantly reduced mental stress levels. A significant degree of overlap was observed between young and mature women, although a reduction in mental stress due to high fruit intake was also observed in mature women. Mature men were found to display significantly lower levels of mental stress with higher degrees of education and with a moderate consumption of nuts in their diet. The authors conclude that their results display the necessity for tailor-made dietary and lifestyle interventions to improve mental health and wellbeing. [NPID: Young adults, mature adults, biological sex, mental distress, mental wellbeing, personalization of diet, brain maturity]
Year: 2020
