Home >Beauty Skin Care Natural > A diet for depression - The Age
A diet for depression - The Age
Posted on Sunday, October 9, 2011 by Beauty Skin Care Natural
Poor eating habits are to a rise in depression and anxiety among the young, according to Deakin researchers.
Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health problems among Australia's young people and such problems may appear even before a child becomes a teenager. Yet poor diet could be contributing to their increasing frequency, according to researchers at Deakin University.
In a study of 3000 Victorian teenagers, the researchers found the quality of food students ate could predict mental health problems over time: the worse the diet, the greater the likelihood the youngsters would suffer mental health issues.
In a report of the study, the researchers say depression is disproportionately obvious in young people, with 13 the average age at which it first occurs.
"Depression and anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders among adolescents and there is evidence both are increasing in prevalence," says Dr Felice Jacka. "Depression is a chronic illness and once you have had one episode you are more likely to have a second, and then a third ..."
Dr Jacka is a research fellow in Deakin's psychiatric research unit based at Geelong Hospital. For the past six years, she has been developing research programs examining how people's diets interact with the risk of mental health problems.
With a team of other researchers, Dr Jacka analysed data collected from students in schools in the Barwon-South Western region involved in a project called "It's Your Move". The project is intended to promote healthy eating and physical activity.
The Deakin study, published in the international journal PLoS One, obtained detailed information from a sample of students aged 11 to 18 in 12 schools across the region. The students filled in questionnaires on the types of food they ate; their mental health and well-being; physical activity; perceptions of school, including their participation in sport; and the home and neighbourhood environment.
Students completed the 84-part questionnaire in about 30 minutes during class time, first in 2005 and again in 2007-08. The students' weight and height were measured by trained researchers.
"We found that diet quality and mental health were linked: healthier diets were associated with better mental health when the students first completed the questionnaire in 2005 and they also predicted better mental health two years later," Dr Jacka says. "This relationship even persisted when mental health at the starting point was taken into account while the opposite was also true; adolescents whose diets were higher in 'junk' and processed foods had worse mental health."
She says depression is the most common cause of disability among people in the developed world and that the "burden of illness associated with depression" is massive. By 2020, depression will become the second most common cause of disability across the planet, after cardiovascular disease.
The Deakin researchers were interested to find out if the students' state of mental health at the beginning of the study was likely to predict the type of food they ate. They found no evidence to suggest it had a bearing on the diet but rather that it worked the other way around: the worse the diet, the greater the chance of suffering mental health problems.
Similarly, if the students' diet improved over the course of the investigation so did the state of their mental health, whereas those whose diets became worse over the two years experienced more mental health symptoms. The study also found that being overweight was not related to the students' mental health and nor was their gender.
Dr Jacka says that although the results were derived from a relatively small sample of young Victorians in one region, other studies have found the conclusions apply more generally to the wider Australian population. And not just across Australia, but also in Britain, Japan, Norway, Japan, Spain and the United States.
"Whatever way we look at diet and its relationship to mental health across different age groups and in different countries, we see the same results over and over again. This has strengthened our belief the relationship does exist and it needs to be taken seriously," she says.
"This is important because these are modifiable factors: everyone has to eat so it affects 100 per cent of the population. If we improve dietary practices, particularly with children, we may be able to prevent at least some of the cases of depression developing in the first place by ensuring the diets of adolescents are sufficiently nutritious."
But individual efforts to tackle the problem of rising rates of depression and anxiety by targeting schools, parents and the wider community will have a limited impact in an environment where junk and processed food are vigorously marketed to children and teenagers, Dr Jacka says.
Instead, immediate action should be taken by the federal government to reduce the availability and marketing of foods that are so cheap and easily obtainable.
"A report published last year found one of the most effective things the government could do to reduce ill-health in Australia was to put a tax on junk and processed food. But these findings, as with other studies that have identified the link between obesity and junk and processed food, have been pretty much ignored," she says.
"Eventually, it will come to a point where governments will have to recognise that the burden of illness associated with poor eating practices is so huge, it is no longer feasible not to take action. We had much the same situation with the tobacco industry, where it took years to get smoking rates down, but now that is happening. A similar approach will have to be taken to restrict the availability of these sorts of foods."
One international study that tracked the mental health of people from the 1930s to 2007 using the same measuring instrument showed an increase in different types of mental distress over that time. The researchers concluded that changes in "unidentified cultural factors in the environment" were associated with the increase in mental health problems. She believes those changes may be linked with people consuming a less healthy diet.
Dr Jacka conducted the first worldwide study to examine the influence of diet on the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders in women. Published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, her report was highlighted on the cover and in an accompanying editorial. She was also the first to report a role for dietary magnesium in depression and anxiety, as well as publishing one of the first papers investigating the use of omega-3 fatty acids in depressive illness.
10 Oct, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHOvSWWMBQhzyi8Z11mg908RXOThg&url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/a-diet-for-depression-20111010-1lh5x.html
~
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com
Blog Archive
-
▼
2011
(2699)
-
▼
October
(651)
- The HCG Diet: Does it really work? - KRCG
- How nutrition affects body hygiene - Myjoyonline.com
- The HCG Diet: Does it really work? - KRCG
- Free Weight Loss Hypnosis For Everyone From The Fa...
- Is Demi Moore on the divorce diet? - Gather Celebs...
- FastPencil PREMIERE Announces "The Social Network ...
- Diet Plan Now Offered Free For Weight Loss - Think...
- Is a Gluten-Free Diet For You? - Patch.com
- Diet Plan Now Offered Free For Weight Loss - Think...
- Lutz reveals 'Immortals' diet - Toronto Sun
- Portfolio Diet – could it be as effective as poppi...
- Obese Family Members of Bariatric-Surgery Patients...
- New Yellow Line Stop May Lead to Congestion - Patc...
- Diet.com Announces Video Host Will Compete in Men'...
- Healthier diet, stronger sperm? - USA Today
- Greensboro Chiropractor Announces Weight Loss Work...
- Local businesses offer weight-loss programs - Lexi...
- Baba Suwe and His New Drug Diet - Nigerian Bulletin
- Demi Moore's dramatic weight loss - The Sun
- Beating cholesterol with the Portfolio Diet - Sydn...
- Chinese scientists solve pandas' bamboo diet myste...
- A New Study Links Diet-Induced Obesity to Male Inf...
- Green diet can help beyond pink month - Hattiesbur...
- The Development Of A Perfect Ferret Food - SmallAn...
- Vivus tried again with FDA for weight-loss drug - ...
- Weight Loss After Surgery Seen in Patient's Family...
- Solta Medical Announces Third Quarter 2011 Results...
- Clair's weight loss transforms her life - Worceste...
- S'pore Immunology Network, Galderma Labs to collab...
- $44 for 30-day hCG w/ aminos weight loss program (...
- Hollywood Weight Loss Secrets: How to Drop the Pou...
- How to still look flawless with acne scars - Trini...
- mbalanced diet poses serious health hazards - Sout...
- The Brentwood Diet - Westside Today
- Rob Kardashian Talks Sexy 'DWTS' Side, Weight Loss...
- TAKING CONTROL OVER YOUR ACNE - NorthFulton.com
- Senator uses Twitter to shed 50 pounds - CNN (blog)
- Even Food Network getting back to basics - Chicago...
- Weight Loss Surgery May Have Healthy Effect on Fam...
- Diet Center Wants to Help Merrick Take the Pounds ...
- Food police: Democratic PAC targets Rep. Sean Duff...
- ASRM: Healthy Diet Boosts Semen Quality - MedPage ...
- Clues About Early Diets Found in Fossilized Teeth ...
- Women who start diet on Tuesday most likely to fai...
- Weight loss after surgery seen in patient's family...
- Jessica Alba sues weight loss company for US$1m - ...
- Weight Loss Surgery May Have Healthy Effect on Fam...
- Tips for healthy weight loss in student athletes -...
- Weight Loss Surgery Benefits Entire Family - New Y...
- Ricki Lake's DWTS weight loss - Winnipeg Free Press
- Create a Heart-Healthy Diet - NorthFulton.com
- Revealed: Why giant pandas can stomach bamboo - CB...
- Rooney Mara On Her Dragon Tattoo Diet, Plus More I...
- Prevent Kidney Stones With An Easy Diet! - Silicon...
- Power of Customization by BIONOVA Skincare - Marke...
- Healthier Diet, Stronger Sperm? - U.S. News & Worl...
- Protein key to curbing overeating and preventing o...
- Going Gluten Free for Weight Loss - First Coast News
- Going Gluten Free for Weight Loss - First Coast News
- Nutrisystem and GlucoFitClub to Pilot the First In...
- Nutrisystem and GlucoFitClub to Pilot the First In...
- Vivus gets back in the race for weight-loss drug O...
- Alkaline or pH diet eases variety of ailments - Ze...
- Vivus tried again with FDA for weight-loss drug - ...
- Acne Drug Spurs Developments in Spinal Cord Treatm...
- UA council still doesn't think Fishinger needs 'ro...
- Sara Davis/Thomas Keller Restaurant Group - NPR (b...
- Diet review: Sugar busters diet - Times of India
- Alkaline or pH diet not only helps loss weight, bu...
- Utah HCG Diet Plan Helps Obese Lower BP - Emailwir...
- Cooking for Special Diets: Where to Get Halloween ...
- Vivus tried again with FDA for weight-loss drug - ...
- Acne collaborates with Daniel Silver - FashionUnit...
- Experts: Milk is not linked to weight loss - Green...
- Registration for weight loss contest takes place t...
- Getting over the weight loss plateau - Times of India
- So much more than weight loss - Regina Leader-Post
- Are you ready for manly soda? - Las Cruces Sun-News
- Is the Dukan diet a health risk? - The Sun
- The alkaline or pH diet, fans claim aids weight lo...
- Looking for a Weight Loss Program That's Right For...
- Wondering if Online Weight Loss Programs Are Right...
- Is the Dukan diet a health risk? - The Sun
- Teach yourself willpower Can't commit to the gym? ...
- The high price of weight loss - Irish Times
- The quality of life diet - Sydney Morning Herald
- Diet determines drug dosage - ScienceAlert
- What Kind of Vegetarian Are You? - Patch.com
- Kate Middleton's Reverse Diet Revealed - Just Don'...
- Healthy Living: Poor diets effecting energy levels...
- DietRedi Announces the Enhancement of Their Weight...
- Sheriff, deputy, others drop pounds with 'Ideal Pr...
- Healthy Skin Care Tips - Five Skincare Guidelines ...
- Weight Loss Firm Which Illegally Used Her Name Fac...
- Daisy Lowe and Matt Smith spotted rowing in the st...
- HCG Tablets Now Offed By True Healthy Products The...
- Nutrition advice: How to avoid common dieting prob...
- Dr Pepper Ten: 'No women allowed' - St. Augustine ...
- The Doctors Chocolate An Antioxidant Rich Dark Cho...
- Do Daisy and the Doctor need a bit of space? Matt ...
-
▼
October
(651)