Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Southern Cross University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Br J Health Psychol. 2023 Sep;28(3):829-843. doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12656. Epub 2023 Mar 12.
In Australia, women report higher rates of depressive symptoms than men. Research suggests that dietary patterns rich in fresh fruit and vegetables could protect against depressive symptoms. The Australian Dietary Guidelines suggest that consuming two servings of fruit and five serves of vegetables per day is optimal for overall health. However, this consumption level is often difficult for those experiencing depressive symptoms to achieve.
This study aims to compare diet quality and depressive symptoms in Australian women over time using (I) two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables per day (FV7), and (ii) two serves of fruit and three serves of vegetables per day (FV5).
A secondary analysis was conducted using data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health over 12 years at three time points 2006 (n = 9145, Mean age = 30.6, SD = 1.5), 2015 (n = 7186, Mean age = 39.7, SD = 1.5), and 2018 (n = 7121, Mean age = 42.4, SD = 1.5).
A linear mixed effects model found, after adjusting for covarying factors, a small significant inverse association between both FV7 (b = -.54, 95% CI = -.78, -.29) and FV5 (b = -.38, 95% CI = -.50, -.26) in depressive symptoms.
These findings suggest an association between fruit and vegetable consumption and decreased depressive symptoms. The small effect sizes indicate caution should be taken in interpreting these results. The findings also suggest that current Australian Dietary Guideline recommendations need not be prescriptive to two fruit and five vegetables for impact on depressive symptoms.
Future research could evaluate reduced vegetable consumption (three serves per day) in identifying the protective threshold for depressive symptoms.
在澳大利亚，女性报告的抑郁症状发生率高于男性。研究表明，富含新鲜水果和蔬菜的饮食模式可以预防抑郁症状。澳大利亚膳食指南建议，每天食用两份水果和五份蔬菜是促进整体健康的最佳选择。然而，对于那些正在经历抑郁症状的人来说，达到这一消费水平往往是困难的。
本研究旨在通过（i）每天两份水果和五份蔬菜（FV7）和（ii）每天两份水果和三份蔬菜（FV5），比较澳大利亚女性随着时间推移的饮食质量和抑郁症状。
使用澳大利亚女性健康纵向研究 12 年的三个时间点（2006 年，n=9145，平均年龄=30.6，SD=1.5；2015 年，n=7186，平均年龄=39.7，SD=1.5；2018 年，n=7121，平均年龄=42.4，SD=1.5）的数据进行二次分析。
在调整了协变量后，线性混合效应模型发现，FV7（b=-.54，95%CI=-.78，-.29）和 FV5（b=-.38，95%CI=-.50，-.26）与抑郁症状之间存在显著的负相关。
这些发现表明，水果和蔬菜的摄入与抑郁症状的减轻有关。较小的效应大小表明，在解释这些结果时应谨慎。研究结果还表明，澳大利亚现行的膳食指南建议不必针对两份水果和五份蔬菜的摄入量，以对抑郁症状产生影响。
未来的研究可以评估减少蔬菜的摄入量（每天三份），以确定预防抑郁症状的保护阈值。
