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Joint association of physical activity and dietary quality on mortality risk in individuals with depression: a population-based cohort study
Depression affects around 5% of adults worldwide and is linked to increased mortality risk. While both physical activity (PA) and dietary quality (DQ) have known associations with depression and mortality, little research has explored their combined impact in individuals with depression. This study by Liu et al. (2025) aims to evaluate the influence of physical activity (PA) and diet quality (DQ), both separately and in combination, on mortality outcomes in this group. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was used to gather data from 5,443 persons with a diagnosis of depression between 2007 and 2018. The authors assessed cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, all-cause mortality, and non-CVD mortality as primary outcomes, in addition to using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) to measure physical activity (PA) and the Healthy Eating Index (HEI 2020) to measure diet quality (DQ). Combined analysis indicated that individuals with depression who maintained both high levels of PA and good DQ had a significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality and non-CVD mortality, compared to those receiving only lifestyle intervention. However, this combination was not statistically significant for reducing CVD-related mortality. Findings suggest that combining physical activity and healthy dietary habits can substantially lower the risk of overall and non-CVD mortality in people with depression. This demonstrates how comprehensive lifestyle treatments can help improve the long-term health of this population. [NPID: Depression, physical activity, dietary quality, mortality risk, lifestyle interventions, NHANES, healthy eating index]
Year: 2025
