Relationship between Diet and Mental Health in a Young Adult Appalachian College Population.

Rachel Wattick,Melissa Olfert,Rebecca Hagedorn

doi:10.3390/nu10080957

Abstract

Young adults in Appalachia may face poor nutritional status due to low access to healthy food and high mental health symptoms attributed to high stress and the college environment. A cross-sectional design was used to investigate the relationship between diet intake and mental health status of this population via surveys. Participant responses (n = 1956) showed students’ mean number of depressed days over the past 30 days was 9.67 ± 8.80, and of anxious days, 14.1 ± 10.03. The mean fruit and vegetable intake was 1.80 ± 1.27 times per day and the mean added sugars intake was 1.79 ± 1.26 times per day. 36.7% of students were found to be food insecure. One-way ANOVA and Chi-Squared analyses were used to determine relationship between variables. Significant variables were placed into a full logistic regression model. Food insecurity and fruit and vegetable intake remained significant predictors of depression in males (odds ratio (OR) = 2.33 95% CI 1.47–3.71 and OR = 68 95% CI 50–89, respectively) and in females food insecurity remained a significant predictor of depression (OR = 2.26 95% CI 1.67–3.07). Food insecurity and added sugars intake were significant predictor of anxiety in males (OR = 2.33 95% CI 1.47–3.71 and OR = 1.09 95% CI 0.91–1.3, respectively) and for anxiety in females, added sugars intake and food insecurity were significant predictors (OR = 1.18 95% CI 1.05–1.32 and OR = 1.65 95% CI 1.27–2.16, respectively). Improving college student’s diet intake through increased access to healthy foods could improve the mental health and well-being of students.

Highlights

Mental health disorders affect 22.1% of the U.S young adult population, which is the highest prevalence of any age group [1]
This is the first study to investigate the relationship between mental health, diet quality, and food insecurity in a young adult population attending an Appalachian university while examining differences between sexes
The mean number of days feeling depressed over the past 30 days was 9.67, and of feeling anxious, 14.1. These findings show that college students in the Appalachian environment face mental health problems for a third to half of the month, which may be hindering their academic progress and physical health

Summary

Introduction

Mental health disorders affect 22.1% of the U.S young adult population (ages 18–25), which is the highest prevalence of any age group [1]. Two common disorders in young adults are major depression and anxiety, occurring at 10.9% and 22.3%, respectively [1]. These disorders are often attributed to a serotonin deficiency and are treated with medications such as Selective Serotonin. The nutritional status of an individual is influenced by a variety of factors, including: Life stage, environment, food access, and socioeconomic status [3]. Each of these factors can influence mental health [4]

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