Investigating the Relationship between Depression and Dietary Patterns in Students of Zabol University of Medical Sciences

Nutrition is one of the most contributing factors in health that can affect different aspects of human life. Today because of changing in lifestyle and unhealthy dietary patterns, there is augment in the incidence of obesity, chronic disease and mental disorders like depression. In this study, we have investigated the prevalence of depression and dietary patterns in the students of Zabol University of Medical Sciences.

A descriptive cross-sectional study carried out on 313 students of Zabol city usingsimple random sampling in 2019.

The prevalence of depression in studied students was 58%. Two major dietary patterns were identified: the healthy dietary pattern and the unhealthy dietary pattern. After adjusting confusing variables, individuals who gained higher scores in unhealthy dietary pattern, had higher probability (OR = 2.19, 95%CI: 1.10 to 4.36, p value = 0.02) of depression, however healthy dietary patterns showed no significant association with the risk of depression.

Findings indicate a higher prevalence of depression and positive relationship between unhealthy dietary patterns with the risk of depression in studied students.