Abstract
BackgroundDietary intake is important for physical and mental health. The aim of this investigation was to assess associations between dietary behaviours and psychological well-being and distress among school-going adolescents in Korea.MethodsIn a cross-sectional nationally representative survey, 65,212 students (Mean age = 15.1 years, SE = 0.02 and 52.2% male and 47.8% female) responded to a questionnaire that included measures of dietary behaviour, psychological well-being and mental distress.ResultsIn logistic regression analyses, adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic status, school level, school types, Body Mass Index, physical activity, and substance use, positive dietary behaviours (regular breakfast, fruit, vegetable, and milk consumption) were positively and unhealthy dietary behaviours (intake of caffeine, soft drinks, sweet drinks and fast food consumption) were negatively associated with self-reported health, happiness and sleep satisfaction. Positive dietary behaviours (regular breakfast, fruit, vegetable, and milk consumption) were negatively associated with perceived stress and depression symptoms. Unhealthy dietary behaviours (consumption of fast food, caffeine, sweetened drinks and soft drinks) were associated with perceived stress and depression symptoms.ConclusionsThe study found strong cross-sectional evidence that healthy dietary behaviours were associated with lower mental distress and higher psychological well-being. It remains unclear, if a healthier dietary behaviour is the cause or the sequela of a more positive well-being.
Highlights
Dietary intake is important for physical and mental health
Vegetable and breakfast intake have been found positively associated with self-reported health, happiness, and better sleep [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8], and regular fruit, vegetable and breakfast intake were negatively associated with perceived stress, mental distress and depression [1,2,3, 9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25]
[26] Fast food consumption was associated with depression among adolescent girls in Korea [32], and among Chinese adolescents, snack consumption was associated with psychological symptoms [34]
Summary
Dietary intake is important for physical and mental health The aim of this investigation was to assess associations between dietary behaviours and psychological well-being and distress among school-going adolescents in Korea. Specific unhealthy dietary behaviours (consumption of soft drinks, fast food, sweets and snacks, skipping breakfast, In a study among Iranian children and adolescents junk food consumption (such as fast foods, sweets, sweetened beverages, and salty snacks) was significantly associated with mental distress, including “worry, depression, Hong and Peltzer Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health (2017) 11:56 confusion, insomnia, anxiety, aggression, and feelings of being worthless.” [26] Fast food consumption was associated with depression among adolescent girls in Korea [32], and among Chinese adolescents, snack consumption was associated with psychological symptoms [34]. In a large study of adolescent school-going children (N = 3071) from the United Kingdom, positive relationships between caffeine consumption and anxiety and depression were found [33]. It is possible that students used caffeinated products to cope with stress [33, 43]
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