Elsevier

Preventive Medicine

Volume 52, Issues 3–4, March–April 2011, Pages 254-257
Preventive Medicine

Depressive symptoms and self-reported fast-food intake in midlife women

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.01.006Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

To examine the association between depressive symptoms and fast-food intake in midlife women.

Methods

Data were analyzed from a cross-sectional study of 626 women aged 45–54 years conducted from 2000 to 2004 in Baltimore, Maryland. The presence of depressive symptoms was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies — Depression scale and defined as a score of 16 or greater. The frequency of fast-food intake was assessed using self-reported questionnaire data, and was categorized as “at least weekly”, “at least monthly, but less than weekly” and “less than monthly”.

Results

Approximately 25% of the study sample reported depressive symptoms; 14% consumed fast-food “at least weekly,” and 27% “at least monthly, but less than weekly”. Compared to their counterparts, women with depressive symptoms had significantly greater odds of reporting higher fast-food intake (confounder-adjusted odds ratio: 1.54; 95% confidence interval: 1.06–2.25). Other covariates associated with a higher frequency of fast-food intake included black race and body mass index 30 kg/m2.

Conclusions

Findings from this study indicate that the presence of depressive symptoms is positively associated with fast-food intake in midlife women. These results may have important health implications given that both depression and dietary consumption patterns are risk factors for a number of diseases.

Introduction

Depressive symptoms have been found to be associated with food consumption patterns in multiple studies, and in different populations and cultures (Jeffery et al., 2009, Akbaraly et al., 2009, Jacka et al., 2010, Liu et al., 2007, Mikolajczyk et al., 2009, Sanchez-Villegas et al., 2009, Kuczmarski et al., 2010, Nanri et al., 2010, Pagoto et al., 2009). It is hypothesized that depression itself may contribute to patterns of dietary consumption: depressive symptoms may decrease an individual's motivation to engage in healthy dietary habits and thus may lead to a poor diet (Anton and Miller, 2005). Previous studies have also documented a relationship between depression and overeating (Kubzansky et al., 1998, Carney et al., 1995). However, it should be noted that causal evidence is largely lacking, and the association between depression and dietary patterns/intake may be bidirectional.

The risk of depression appears to increase among females during the menopausal transition (Cohen et al., 2006, Steinberg et al., 2008, Accortt et al., 2008). As such, the relationship between depression and diet has serious health implications given the identification of certain dietary consumption patterns as risk factors for obesity and other co-morbid conditions (Fung et al., 2004, Fung, 2001, Heidemann et al., 2008). Limited data exist exploring the relationship between depression and food consumption patterns specifically in midlife women. To address this gap in the literature, the present analysis was undertaken to test the hypothesis that the presence of depressive symptoms is associated with an increased frequency of fast-food intake in midlife women.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

The Midlife Health Study is a cross-sectional study that was conducted during 2000–2004 in the Baltimore metropolitan region. Detailed methods of this study have been published (Gallicchio et al., 2008, Visvanathan et al., 2005). Participants gave written informed consent according to procedures approved by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, University of Illinois, and Johns Hopkins University Institutional Review Boards.

Briefly, women aged 45 to 54 years were recruited by mass

Results

Approximately 25% of the women reported depressive symptoms and 13.7% reported consuming fast-food “at least weekly”. Women with depressive symptoms were more likely to report being divorced/separated/widowed, to have a lower level of education and income, to be current smokers, to report less leisure physical activity, and to be using an anti-depressant medication compared to women without depressive symptoms (Table 1).

Women who reported depressive symptoms had statistically greater odds of

Discussion

The results of this study demonstrate a statistically significant positive association between depressive symptoms and the frequency of fast-food intake in midlife women. These findings are consistent with recent publications that showed significant associations between self-reported depression and dietary patterns (Akbaraly et al., 2009, Jacka et al., 2010, Jeffery et al., 2009, Liu et al., 2007, Sanchez-Villegas et al., 2009, Kuczmarski et al., 2010, Nanri et al., 2010, Pagoto et al., 2009),

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgments

Source of financial support: This study was supported by NIH grant AG018400, NIA 5P30AG028747, and NCRR 5K30RR022682.

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