Abstract
BackgroundDepression is the single largest contributor to global disability. There is growing evidence that a healthy diet is associated with reduced depression risk. However, beyond the Mediterranean diet, few longitudinal studies have explored the relationship between adherence to national dietary guidelines and depression. Hence, this study investigates the relationship between adherence to Australian Dietary Guidelines and depressive symptoms.MethodsData was drawn from the READI longitudinal study, a prospective cohort study of socioeconomically disadvantaged Australian women. This analysis includes a sub-sample of 837 women. A generalized linear model was used to explore whether baseline diet (assessed using the Dietary Guideline Index (DGI-2013; score range 0 to 85)) was associated with risk of developing depressive symptoms (measured by the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D)) at 5 years follow-up, whilst adjusting for potential confounders. A fixed-effects model was used to assess associations between concurrent changes in diet quality and depressive symptoms from baseline to 5 years follow-up.ResultsAn association between baseline diet quality and risk of developing depressive symptoms at follow-up was observed, where a 10 unit increase in DGI-2013 score was associated with an estimated 12% lower risk of developing heightened depressive symptoms (RR = 0.875, 95%CI 0.784 to 0.978, p = 0.018). The fixed-effects model indicated that an increase in DGI score over 5 years follow-up was associated with a lower (improved) CES-D score (B = -0.044, 95% CI − 0.08 to − 0.01, p = 0.024).ConclusionsOur results provide evidence that better adherence to the Australian Dietary Guidelines may result in improved depressive symptoms. The growing high-quality evidence regarding the diet-depression relationship provides us with a rationale for developing strategies for supporting dietary behaviour change programs to lower depression rates.
Highlights
Depression is ranked as the single largest contributor to global disability [1, 2]
The eligible sub-sample participants had a higher adherence to Australian dietary guidelines, higher leisure-time activity levels, and were less likely to be obese or smoke compared to the excluded sub-sample
The fixed-effects model indicated an inverse relationship between concurrent change in diet and depressive symptoms, such that an increase in DGI score over 5 years follow-up was associated with a lower Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) score (B = -0.044, 95% CI − 0.08 to − 0.01, p = 0.024)
Summary
Depression is ranked as the single largest contributor to global disability [1, 2]. Internationally, over 300 million people are estimated to suffer from depression, equivalent to 4.4% of the world’s population [1]. Research on diet-disease links has shifted its focus away from individual nutrients or single foods, and towards dietary patterns [11] This approach is likely superior as it is reflective of the way people consume food, and allows for the exploration of the synergistic interactions of the nutrients and foods in combination. There is a growing body of evidence on the relationship between dietary patterns and depression, with studies showing that adherence to a high-quality diet is associated with reduced depression risk [12,13,14,15,16]. Beyond the Mediterranean diet, few longitudinal studies have sought to explore the relationship between adherence to the national dietary guidelines and depression [16]. Beyond the Mediterranean diet, few longitudinal studies have explored the relationship between adherence to national dietary guidelines and depression. This study investigates the relationship between adherence to Australian Dietary Guidelines and depressive symptoms
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