Associations between Dietary Pattern and Depression in Korean Adolescent Girls

Dietary patterns are important for the physical and psychological development of adolescent girls. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between dietary patterns and depression in this population.

We conducted a case-control study in a tertiary university hospital of 849 girls aged 12 to 18 years.

The study was conducted from April 2011 to December 2012. Participants were identified as having depression if they had scores greater than 16 on the Korean version of the Beck Depression Inventory. Data were obtained using validated Korean-language questionnaires.

The subjects' usual dietary patterns during the past 12 months were assessed using the Food Frequency Questionnaire published by the Korean Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Among the 849 enrolled volunteers, 116 were identified as having depressive symptoms. The mean age of the participants was 15.0 ± 1.5 years. The prevalence of girls diagnosed with depression was 13.6%. Multivariate adjusted regression analysis demonstrated that the risk of depression was significantly positively associated with the consumption of instant and processed foods and negatively associated with the intake of green vegetables and 1 to 3 servings/day of fruits, after adjusting for energy intake and menstrual regularity. Additionally, depression was negatively associated with intake of fiber, β-carotene, vitamin B6, vitamin E, vitamin C, potassium, zinc, folate, iron, and copper after adjusting for confounding variables.

Consumption of fast foods including ramen noodles, hamburger, pizza, fried food, and other processed foods was associated with increased risk of depression in adolescent girls. Thus, caution is required regarding dietary choices in this population.