Varying levels of depressive symptoms and lifestyle health behaviors in a low income, urban population

Mediating effect of physical sub-health in the association of sugar-sweetened beverages consumption with depressive symptoms in Chinese college students: A structural equation model

BACKGROUND

Although previous findings with small samples indicated that sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) consumption was associated with depressive symptoms in adolescents, the mediating effect of physical sub-health in the association is unknown.

METHODS

A survey was conducted among freshmen from 11 provinces in China. A food frequency questionnaire was used to collect dietary behavior, and patient health questionnaire-9 items was used to assess depressive symptoms. A generalized linear model was used to analyze the association between SSB consumption, physical sub-health and depressive symptoms. The structural equation model was used to analyze the mediating effect of physical sub-health.

RESULTS

Of the 31,856 participants, 36.5 % had positive depressive symptoms. After adjusting for variables, carbonate beverages (β = 0.11; 95%CI: 0.07-0.15; P = 0.000) and milk tea (β = 0.07; 95%CI: 0.01-0.13; P = 0.021) consumption was associated with depressive symptoms in boys. Carbonate beverages (β = 0.09; 95%CI: 0.05-0.13; P = 0.000), tea beverages (β = 0.09; 95%CI: 0.04-0.13; P = 0.000), and milk tea (β = 0.08; 95%CI: 0.04-0.11; P = 0.000) consumption was associated with depressive symptoms in girls. The mediating effect of physical sub-health accounted for 81.3 % of the total effect in the mediating model of SSB associated with depressive symptoms.

LIMITATIONS

Retrospective survey has certain information bias. Association observed in the cross-sectional study is uncertain.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study suggests that the consumption of SSB associated with depressive symptoms in Chinese college students, and physical sub-health plays a complete mediating role in the association.

What Are the Relationships between Psychosocial Community Characteristics and Dietary Behaviors in a Racially/Ethnically Diverse Urban Population in Los Angeles County?

To address existing gaps in public health practice, we used data from a 2014 internet panel survey of 954 Los Angeles County adults to investigate the relationships between psychosocial community characteristics (PCCs) and two key chronic disease-related dietary behaviors: fruit and vegetable (F+V) and soda consumption. Negative binomial regression models estimated the associations between 'neighborhood risks and resources' and 'sense of community' factors for each dietary outcome of interest. While high perceived neighborhood violence (p < 0.001) and perceived community-level collective efficacy (p < 0.001) were associated with higher F+V consumption, no PCCs were directly associated with soda consumption overall. However, moderation analyses by race/ethnicity showed a more varied pattern. High perceived violence was associated with lower F+V consumption among White and Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (ANHOPI) groups (p < 0.01). Inadequate park access and walking as the primary mode of transportation to the grocery store were associated with higher soda consumption among the ANHOPI group only (p < 0.05). Study findings suggest that current and future chronic disease prevention efforts should consider how social and psychological dynamics of communities influence dietary behaviors, especially among racially/ethnically diverse groups in urban settings. Intervention design and implementation planning could benefit from and be optimized based on these considerations.

Increased sugar-sweetened beverage use tendency in pregnancy positively associates with peripartum Edinburgh postpartum depression scores

The association among sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) consumption, addiction and depression in adults, children and adolescents is widely reported. Dieting patterns during pregnancy is complicated by maternal fetal concerns. Specifically, restrained use of SSB might be potentially a source of perinatal distress. The current study modified diagnostic criteria for Substance Use Disorder (SUD) in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), into SSB-specific questions to assess SSB use tendency. Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scores (EPDS) is used to assess maternal distress during pregnancy. One hundred and ninety-six consecutive pregnant women receiving antenatal care at Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital were invited to participate in this study. In the first trimester, 46.6% of women had none or 1 DSM-5 symptom, 27.0% had 2–3 symptoms, while 26.4% had ≥ 4 symptoms. The mean numbers of DSM-5 symptoms in each trimester were found to be 2.5 ± 2.25, 2.6 ± 2.45, 2.4 ± 2.43 for the first, second and third trimester, respectively, p = 0.750. While EPDS score showed no difference among DSM-5 symptoms 0–1, 2–3 and ≥ 4 groups in the first trimester (8.1 ± 4.59, 8.4 ± 5.00, 8.8 ± 4.82, p = 0.343), women with ≥ 4 DSM-symptoms was found significantly higher EPDS scores than those with < 4 DSM-symptoms in the second (7.2 ± 4.81, 7.7 ± 4.98, 8.8 ± 4.33, p = 0.030) and third trimester (6.8 ± 5.00, 7.2 ± 4.63, 8.7 ± 5.24, p = 0.019). The relationship remained significant after adjusting for covariates including actual SSB amount consumed (adjusted β = 0.25 with 95% confident interval (CI) 0.04–0.45 and 0.21 with 95% CI 0.04–0.38 for the second and third trimesters, respectively). Overall, the study is the first to characterize the positive relationship between SSB use tendency and antenatal distress in pregnancy, independent of actual SSB amount consumed. The observational nature of the study design precludes inferences of its underlying socio-psychomotor mechanisms, although restrained SSB use in pregnancy is suspected to contribute. The novel employment of modified SSB-specific DSM-5 scores and EPDS in this setting is feasible and further validation is promising. With better understanding and awareness, pregnant women with increased SSB use tendency should be properly counseled with special attention to their mental state.