The associations of dietary habits with health, well-being, and behavior in adolescents: A cluster analysis

Mediterranean Diet and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

CONTEXT

Childhood and adolescence are periods of critical importance in the development of mental health disorders. The Mediterranean diet (MD) has been linked to multiple positive health outcomes, including reduced incidence of mental health disorders and fewer psychiatric symptoms.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the association between adherence to an MD and mental health outcomes in children and adolescents.

METHODS

A systematic literature review was conducted of original research that explored the relationship between psychiatric symptoms or disorders and adherence to an MD. The literature search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, MEDES, Dialnet, and Latindex from inception to November 2022, and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to evaluate the quality of studies.

RESULTS

A total of 13 studies (6 cross-sectional, 4 case-control, 2 randomized clinical trials, and 1 longitudinal cohort) out of 450 met the inclusion criteria. A total of 3058 children or adolescents with a mean age range from 8.6 to 16.2 years were included. Among the reviewed studies, 5 (71.42%) of those looking at attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 4 (80%) examining depression, and 2 (50%) assessing anxiety found a significant protective association. Seven articles (53.84%) were found to be of high quality and 6 (46.15%) of moderate quality.

CONCLUSION

Adherence to an MD could be a protective factor for mental health in child and adolescent populations. This suggests that promoting an MD could help prevent the onset of clinical psychiatric symptoms, reduce symptom severity, and improve prognosis in young patients.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

PROSPERO registration no. CRD42021276316.

Food consumption and mental health in children and adolescents: A systematic review protocol

Mental illnesses are prevalent among children and adolescents worldwide and may be associated with food consumption. This protocol aims to evaluate the association between food consumption and mental health in children and adolescents through a systematic review and meta-analysis. The electronic search will include keywords related to childhood, adolescence, mental health issues (e.g., anxiety, stress, depression), and food consumption (e.g., in natura or minimally processed foods and ultra-processed foods ultra-processed foods), verified using MeSH terms. The systematic review will follow the PRISMA-2020 guidelines, employing the PECOS strategy, and will include quantitative observational and mixed-methods studies. A search will be conducted in the following databases: Scopus, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, LILACS, Web of Science, APA-PsycArticles, PubMed/Medline, and EMBASE. Identifying the association between mental health and food consumption will contribute to the development of preventive and intervention strategies aimed at improving the health and well-being of children and adolescents. The analysis of the data will provide results on how psychological factors are linked to the consumption of various food groups, implying the updating of public policies. These guidelines can assist managers and researchers in creating effective interventions to promote mental health and healthy eating behaviors, ultimately leading to long-term positive impacts on public health.

Evaluation of the Dietary Habits of Polish and Greek University Students in the Context of the Health Benefits of Their Diets

Background/Objectives: Eating habits and behaviors play a central role in maintaining health and overall well-being. In the case of young students, they affect not only appearance and general mood but also cognitive ability, concentration, and broader learning ability. For this reason, it is essential for young people to have well-balanced and wholesome diets. Methods: The study included 186 Polish and 136 Greek university students majoring in sports. The research tool was the validated survey questionnaire FFQ-6, and the data collected were additionally used to calculate the healthy diet index (pHDI-10). Results: Based on the analysis of the collected data, the dietary habits of the students surveyed were assessed, taking into account, among other things, the frequency of consumption of sweets, salty snacks, processed foods, and sweetened drinks, but also healthy products, including vegetables and fruit or vegetable and fruit juices. The data collected made it possible to determine an index of the health value of the participants' diet. Conclusions: The analysis of the collected data led to the conclusion that, more often than their Greek peers, Polish university students tend to reach for sweets, salty snacks, or sweetened drinks. Greeks were more likely to choose fruit and vegetables and vegetable and fruit juices. However, among both Poles and Greeks, the index of the health-promoting value of the diet is low, indicating a high risk of diet-related diseases of lifestyle. Similar trends can be observed among students of almost all nationalities, which makes it reasonable to consider the implementation of appropriate educational programs on nutrition and healthy lifestyle principles in general.

Reference data for body composition parameters in normal-weight Polish adolescents: results from the population-based ADOPOLNOR study

The aim of this study was to develop age- and sex-specific reference data for body composition parameters, including fat-free mass (FFM), body cell mass (BCM), fat mass (FM) and related indices, fat mass percentage (FM%), total body water (TBW) and muscle mass (MM) and to assess differences in these parameters between male and female adolescents. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) data were obtained from an ethnically homogeneous sub-sample of 4037 normal-weight participants selected on the basis of BMI from the total sample (2005 males and 2032 females aged 10-18 years) of the ADOPOLNOR study, a cross-sectional population-based survey conducted in western Poland. The LMS method and RefCurv version 0.4.2 software package were used to calculate centile values and plot smoothed centile curves. The results showed age-related changes in body composition parameters and a clear sexual dimorphism. From the age of 13 (for FFM) or 14 (for BCM, BCMI and MM) or throughout adolescence (for TBW and FFMI), boys had consistently higher values for these parameters than girls (p < 0.01 for each). However, they had significantly lower values for FM, FMI and FM% (1.3, 1.6 and 1.5 times lower at 18 years, respectively), indicating a lower proportion of body fat than girls (p < 0.01 for each). The centile values and curves were specific for boys and girls of all ages. Compared with other European adolescent cohorts, the data fit the normal-weight subsamples better than the population reference data.

CONCLUSION

This study provides reference data for body composition in normal (healthy) weight Polish adolescents, providing a contextualised framework that takes into account the unique physiological and environmental factors of the region. These reference data may also be useful for other Central European adolescents.

WHAT IS KNOWN

• Adolescence is a period of significant physical growth and increased susceptibility to nutritional problems due to factors such as suboptimal nutrition, unhealthy dietary choices, inadequate physical activity and psychosocial stressors related to body image concerns. • Body composition (BC) parameters, rather than BMI alone, are more effective in identifying nutritional abnormalities and health risks such as eating disorders, obesity and chronic diseases. Existing studies provide reference data for BC parameters, but often do not cover all relevant measures or specific regional populations.

WHAT IS NEW

• This study provides new age- and sex-specific reference values for a comprehensive range of body composition parameters, including body cell mass (BCM), total body water (TBW) and muscle mass (MM), in addition to fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM), in a large, ethnically homogeneous, normal-weight population of Polish adolescents aged 10-18 years. • These reference values for the normalweight cohort reflect healthy adolescent growth and body composition patterns, minimising bias from abnormal weight status. In addition, they can be applied to other Central European adolescent populations.

Association between venous leg ulcers and chronic heart failure: A Mendelian randomization study

An association between venous leg ulcers (VLU) and chronic heart failure (CHF) has been suggested by observational research. This study used Mendelian randomization (MR) methods to look into any possible bidirectional causal links between VLU and CHF. The 'TwoSampleMR' R package was employed for MR analyses. The association of VLU and CHF was assessed via methods of inverse variance weighted (IVW), weighted mode, MR Egger and weighted median. Results of IVW suggested no association between VLU and CHF (β 0.008356; SE 0.01889; p = 0.6582). The weighted median estimator (β -0.005777; SE 0.02059, p = 0.7791), MR-Egger (β -0.08955; SE 0.04557; p = 0.07296) and weighted mode (β -0.01202; SE 0.02467; p = 0.6341) showed consistent results. Conversely, evidence indicating that the presence of CHF increased the risk of VLU was lacking. In conclusion, there is no bidirectional causal relationship between VLU and CHF. Further studies are required to validate the findings of this study.

Problematic Social Media Use and Lifestyle Behaviors in Adolescents: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study

Background

The use of social media by adolescents has increased considerably in the past decade. With this increase in social media use in our daily lives, there has been a rapidly expanding awareness of the potential unhealthy lifestyle-related health effects arising from excessive, maladaptive, or addictive social media use.

Objective

This study aims to assess the association between adolescents' social media use and health-related behaviors.

Methods

We used a cross-sectional research approach and analyzed data from 96,919 adolescents at high schools throughout the Netherlands. A structured 43-item questionnaire was used to gather data on sociodemographics, dietary and lifestyle factors, and the degree of social media use based on the Compulsive Internet Use Scale. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association between problematic social media use (PSMU) and lifestyle behaviors while adjusting for sociodemographic factors.

Results

Of the 96,919 included adolescents, 7.4% (n=7022) were identified as at risk for PSMU. Furthermore, logistic regression results showed that adolescents who are at risk for PSMU were more likely to report alcohol consumption and smoking while simultaneously having significantly lower levels of health-promoting behavior such as healthy eating habits (eating fruits, vegetables, and breakfast regularly) and physical activity.

Conclusions

This study confirms that adolescents at risk of PSMU were more likely to exhibit an unhealthy lifestyle. Being at risk for PSMU was a determinant of soft drug use, alcohol consumption, smoking, poor eating habits, and lower physical activity independent of the additional adjusted covariates including demographic variables and remaining lifestyle variables. Future research is needed to confirm this observation in an experimental setting.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Oral Health Status and Behavioral Risk Indicators among Non-Smoking and Currently Smoking Lithuanian Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to evaluate oral health status, behavioral risk indicators, and the impact of smoking on oral health among Lithuanian adolescents. This representative cross-sectional study was conducted among 15-year-old Lithuanian adolescents. The method of multistage cluster sampling was used. A total of 1127 adolescents met the inclusion criteria. Two originally created self-reported questionnaires were used in this study. Dental caries, periodontal status, and oral hygiene status were evaluated by four trained researchers. A p-value ≤ 0.05 was set to indicate statistically significant differences. Statistical analysis included Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman correlation tests. Out of all the participants, 9.6% self-reported being a current tobacco smoker. The mean PI value was 1.14 ± 0.69 among all the participants. Currently smoking adolescents had more active caries lesions (D-S) than those who did not smoke (13.2 ± 16.4 vs. 9.8 ± 10.7, p = 0.023). Considering periodontal status, non-smoking adolescents had significantly lower mean PSR index scores than current smokers (0.52 ± 0.51 vs. 0.61 ± 0.50, p = 0.0298). Tobacco smoking and the consumption of energy drinks were significantly associated (OR = 3.74, 95% CI 2.66-5.26, p < 0.001) among participants. Currently smoking adolescents tended to have improper dietary habits, especially a higher consumption of energy drinks; thus, they were more likely to have active dental caries lesions, as well as poorer periodontal status, than their non-smoking peers.

Increased Consumption of Ultra-Processed Food Is Associated with Poor Mental Health in a Nationally Representative Sample of Adolescent Students in Brazil

The objective of this study was to analyze the association between ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and mental health symptoms in a nationally representative sample of the Brazilian adolescent student population. Cross-sectional analyses with data from the National School-Based Health Survey (PeNSE 2019) were performed. Self-reported information was obtained for the frequency of five mental health symptoms in the last month and the consumption of thirteen UPFs in the last 24 h. Generalized linear models adjusting for the main confounders were performed for each sex. Of the 94,767 adolescent students (52.4% girls) included, 8.1% of the boys and 27.2% of the girls reported "almost always" or "always" having at least four of the five mental health symptoms. In the fully adjusted models, compared to the boys who consumed ≤3 UPF, those consuming ≥6 UPF reported more frequent symptoms of poor mental health (ß-coefficient = 0.27 [0.03, 0.51]; p-for-trend = 0.005). A similar association was observed in girls (ß-coefficient = 0.31 [0.13, 0.50]; p-for-trend = 0.001). In conclusion, in this large sample of adolescent students from an entire country, the higher the consumption of UPF was, the higher the frequency of reported symptoms of poor mental health. These findings remained significant regardless of sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, self-perceived body image, and bullying victimization.