Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 1C9, Canada.
BMC Psychol. 2017 Dec 12;5(1):38. doi: 10.1186/s40359-017-0208-x.
Poor mental health constitutes a considerable global public health burden with approximately half of all cases of poor mental health having their onset before the age of 14 years. The identification of modifiable risk factors early in life is therefore essential to prevention, however, there are presently very few longitudinal studies on health behaviours for mental health to inform public health decision makers and to justify preventive action. We examined the importance of diet quality, physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviours in childhood for internalizing disorder throughout adolescence.
We linked data from a population-based lifestyle survey among 10 and 11 year old grade five students in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia with physician diagnoses of internalizing disorders from administrative health records. We applied negative binomial regressions to examine the associations of health behaviours with the number of health care provider contacts with a diagnosis of internalizing disorder.
Of the 4875 students, 23.9% had one or more diagnoses for internalizing disorder between the age of 10 or 11 years and 18 years. The number of health care provider contacts with a diagnosis of internalizing disorder was statistically significant higher among students with less variety in their diets, and among students who reported less PA and more time using computers and video games. The number of health care provider contacts was also higher for girls, and for students with low self-esteem and from low-income households.
These findings suggest that diets and active lifestyles in childhood affect mental health during adolescence, and imply that succxessful health promotion programs targeting children's diets and activity will contribute to the prevention of mental health disorders in addition to the prevention of chronic diseases later in life.
心理健康状况不佳是全球公共卫生的一个重大负担，大约一半的心理健康状况不佳的病例发生在 14 岁之前。因此，早期识别可改变的生命风险因素对于预防至关重要，然而，目前几乎没有关于心理健康的健康行为的纵向研究来为公共卫生决策者提供信息并证明采取预防措施的合理性。我们研究了儿童时期饮食质量、身体活动（PA）和久坐行为对整个青春期内化障碍的重要性。
我们将加拿大新斯科舍省五年级 10 岁和 11 岁学生的基于人群的生活方式调查数据与行政健康记录中的内化障碍的医生诊断相联系。我们应用负二项回归来检查健康行为与因内化障碍就诊的次数之间的关联。
在 4875 名学生中，有 23.9%的学生在 10 岁或 11 岁至 18 岁之间有一个或多个内化障碍的诊断。饮食种类较少、报告的身体活动较少、使用电脑和视频游戏时间较多的学生，其因内化障碍就诊的次数明显较高。因内化障碍就诊的次数在女生中更高，在自尊心较低和来自低收入家庭的学生中也更高。
这些发现表明，儿童时期的饮食和积极的生活方式会影响青春期的心理健康，并且暗示针对儿童饮食和活动的成功健康促进计划除了预防晚年的慢性病外，还将有助于预防心理健康障碍。
