Dairy Products Are Not Adversely Associated with Depressive Symptoms over 6 Years in the Hispanic Community Health...

Background/Objectives: Current evidence suggests that Hispanic/Latino adults experience a disproportionate burden of depression. Dairy consumption has been associated with fewer depressive symptoms, but examinations in Hispanic/Latino cohorts are unavailable. Our objective was to measure the 6-year prospective associations between dairy consumption and depressive symptoms among Hispanic/Latino adults. Methods: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) is a prospective population-based cohort study of 16,415 Hispanic/Latino adults residing in the US. We estimated daily dairy product consumption from two 24 h baseline dietary recalls using the National Cancer Institute method. The 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD10) administered at baseline and follow-up assessed depressive symptoms. Survey multiple linear regression models adjusted for baseline CESD10 and other covariates, including sociodemographic, dietary and health factors. Standardized β coefficients represent the standard deviation difference in 6-year CESD10 score per one standard deviation increase in daily dairy intake at baseline. Complete data were available among 10,618 participants. Results: Neither baseline total dairy consumption (standardized β (95% CI); -0.019 (-0.048, 0.011)), nor milk (-0.006 (-0.029, 0.018)), cheese (0.038 (-0.006, 0.081)), or cream (-0.005 (-0.037, 0.028), p > 0.05 for all) consumption was significantly associated with the follow-up CESD10 score. Conversely, we observed a significant and inverse association between yogurt (-0.036 (-0.058, -0.013), p = 0.002) and butter (-0.049 (-0.092, -0.006), p = 0.027) with the CESD10 score. Conclusions: Total dairy, fat-based dairy groupings, milk, cheese, and cream were not associated with CESD10 score at 6-year follow-up; yogurt and butter showed inverse associations that require cautious interpretation due to very small effect sizes. Although additional prospective analyses in other diverse cohorts are needed to confirm these results, our findings suggest that dairy consumption is not adversely associated with depressive symptoms in Hispanic/Latino adults.