People Eating Fast Food Are Prone To Moderate Or Severe Psychological Distress

Mental Health News: New study published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition reveals that junk food is linked to poor mental health irrespective of gender age, education, age, marital status, and income level.

Jim E. Banta, the lead author of the study and his team reviewed data from more than 240,000 telephone surveys conducted between 2005 and 2015 as part of the multi-year California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). The CHIS dataset contains socio-demographics, health status and health behaviors and was designed to provide statewide approximations for regions within California and for various ethnic groups.

Researchers found that 17% California adults who consumed more unhealthy food were more likely to report symptoms of either moderate (13.2%) or severe psychological distress (3.7%) than their peers who consume a healthier diet.

The results of the study are similar to other studies that found a link between poor mental health and poor diet quality. For example, high intake sugar rich food is found to be associated with bipolar disorder and consumption of processed grains or fried food is linked with depression.

These studies help in understanding the role of diet in mental health and have big implications for treatments in behavorial medicine.The study findings provide evidence that public policy and clinical practice should more explicitly aim to improve diet quality among people with poor mental health. The study stated that “dietary interventions for people with mental illness should especially target young adults, those with less than 12 years of education, and obese individuals.”

To Know More, You May Refer To:

Jim E. Banta, Gina Segovia-Siapco, Christine Betty Crocker, Danielle Montoya, Noara Alhusseini. Mental health status and dietary intake among California adults: a population-based survey. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 2019; 1 DOI: 10.1080/09637486.2019.1570085