OBJECTIVES

The present study aimed to classify participants based on mental health problems profile and to evaluate its relationship with dietary patterns among Iranian manufacturing employees.

DESIGN

Observational study with a cross-sectional design.

SETTING

This study was conducted in Esfahan Steel Company, one of the biggest Iranian industrial manufacturing companies.

PARTICIPANTS

Complete data on 2942 manufacturing employees, with a mean (SD) age of 36.68 (7.31) years, were analysed.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale(HADA) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) were used to evaluate anxiety and depression and psychological distress, respectively.

RESULTS

Three major dietary patterns, namely 'western', 'healthy' and 'traditional', were extracted using factor analysis. A two-class, one-factor structure was identified from study participants in terms of mental health problems profile based on the factor mixture model. Two identified classes were labelled as 'low mental health problems' (2683 manufacturing employees, 91.2%) and 'high mental health problems' (259 individuals, 8.8%). After adjusting for the impact of potential confounders, manufacturing employees in the highest tertile of healthy dietary pattern had lower odds of being in the high mental health problems profile class (OR=0.67, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.92). In contrast, greater adherence to Western and traditional dietary patterns was associated with increased odds of being in the high mental health problems class (OR=1.66, 95% CI: 1.18 to 2.35 and OR=1.52, 95% CI :1.10 to 2.11, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study provided informative pathways on the association of dietary patterns and mental health among manufacturing employees. The findings can be used by workplace health promotion policymakers in improving mental health in such study population. Interventional and prospective studies that investigate the effects of change in dietary patterns on the mental health of manufacturing employees are suggested.