Abstract
The purpose of the present pilot study was to investigate the link between diet and mental health in female university students enrolled in a training course for registered dietitians. A total of 62 female university students, with a mean age of 18.79±0.45years, participated in this cross-sectional study. Diet surveys were performed using the brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire (BDHQ). Mental health was also evaluated using the general health questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), which was the shortest form and clinically available. Lifestyles such as physical activity levels were also evaluated. The mean energy intake was 1379±575kcal and the mean GHQ score was 3.11±2.41. Among nutrients, vegetable fat and sucrose showed a weak positive correlation with the GHQ scores. Among food groups, potatoes, fats and oils, and confectioneries also showed a weak positive correlation with the GHQ scores. A multiple regression analysis showed that the confectioneries were the determining factor for the GHQ scores. Proper education concerning their diets and reducing confectioneries in their daily lives might be beneficial for the mental health of female university students.
Highlights
It is well known that diet, physical activity, and mental health are important in preventing future lifestyle-related diseases in university students [1, 2]
Objective The purpose of the present pilot study was to investigate the link between diet and mental health in female university students enrolled in a training course for registered dietitians
In this pilot study, we accurately evaluated diet and mental health, and the effect of diet on mental health, using selfquestionnaires, in female university students enrolled in a training course for registered dietitians
Summary
A total of 62 first year female university students, among 76 students in a training course for registered dietitians, with a mean age of 18.79 ± 0.45 years, were enrolled in this cross-sectional pilot study who met the following criteria (Table 1): (1) they underwent our survey at Mimasaka University on December 2015, (2) they completely answered the self-reported questionnaires concerning diet and mental health, and (3) they provided written informed consent. Ethical approval was obtained from the ethical committee of Mimasaka University (27-9) Clinical parameters such as age, diet, mental health, and physical activity level (PAL) were evaluated. We evaluated the relationship between nutrients and GHQ-12 scores (Table 4). As shown in the relationship between food groups and GHQ-12 scores (Table 5), potatoes, fats and oils, and confectioneries showed a weak positive correlation with the GHQ-12 scores. Using a multiple regression analysis, we used the GHQ12 scores as dependent variables and BMI, PAL, energy and sucrose as independent variables because that these variables were thought to be clinically important and sample size of statistical limitations.
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