Ertaş Öztürk Yasemin, Uzdil Zeynep
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Türkiye.
PeerJ. 2025 Aug 25;13:e19931. doi: 10.7717/peerj.19931. eCollection 2025.
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are industrial formulations that typically contain little or no whole foods and are often high in added sugars, unhealthy fats, and sodium. Research indicates that higher intake of UPFs correlates with lower overall diet quality, which can exacerbate mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. This study aimed to assess the associations between UPF consumption with health-related quality of life, and mental distress in university students.
This cross-sectional study consisted of 595 students resident in Samsun/Türkiye. The data were collected face-to-face with a questionnaire. Linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between the UPFs (% energy), health-related quality of life components and mental distress score (MDS). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was conducted to establish the optimal threshold levels regarding physical component summary (PCS12), mental component summary (MCS12) and MDS.
The UPF ratios were negatively related to PCS12 (β = -0.112, = 0.005) and positively associated with MDS (β = 0.102, = 0.002) after adjusting for age, sex, physical activity, smoking duration, number of cigarettes and chronic disease. ROC analysis showed that those with UPF consumption above 45.096% had low physical quality of life, those above 50.999% had low mental quality of life, and those above 40.250% had moderate-to-high mental distress.
Increased consumption of UPFs is associated with a decrease in physical quality of life and an increase in mental distress. Consuming more than 40% from UPFs can lead to mental and physical problems. There is a need for strategies to decrease the intake of UPFs to enhance both physical and mental wellbeing.
超加工食品（UPFs）是工业配方食品，通常几乎不含或完全不含天然食物，且往往添加糖、不健康脂肪和钠的含量很高。研究表明，超加工食品摄入量较高与整体饮食质量较低相关，这可能会加剧焦虑和抑郁等心理健康问题。本研究旨在评估超加工食品消费与大学生健康相关生活质量和心理困扰之间的关联。
这项横断面研究由居住在土耳其萨姆松的595名学生组成。通过问卷调查面对面收集数据。进行线性回归分析以检验超加工食品（能量百分比）、健康相关生活质量成分与心理困扰评分（MDS）之间的关系。进行受试者工作特征（ROC）分析以确定身体成分总结（PCS12）、心理成分总结（MCS12）和MDS的最佳阈值水平。
在调整年龄、性别、身体活动、吸烟时长、吸烟数量和慢性病因素后，超加工食品比例与PCS12呈负相关（β = -0.112，P = 0.005），与MDS呈正相关（β = 0.102，P = 0.002）。ROC分析表明，超加工食品摄入量超过45.096%的学生身体生活质量较低，超过50.999%的学生心理生活质量较低，超过40.250%的学生存在中度至高度心理困扰。
超加工食品消费量增加与身体生活质量下降和心理困扰增加有关。超加工食品摄入量超过40%会导致身心问题。需要采取策略减少超加工食品的摄入量，以增强身心健康。
