Association between Physical Activity, Food Consumption and Depressive Symptoms Among Young Adults in Spain: Findings of a National Survey

Patterns of unhealthy behaviours during adolescence and subsequent anxiety and depression in adulthood: a prospective register linkage study of the HUNT survey and health registries

BACKGROUND

There is increasing need for prospective investigations in the preventing role of health-related behaviours on mental health problems. The aim of this study is to identify patterns of health-related behaviours in adolescence, and the association between the behavioural patterns and the subsequent diagnoses and/or drug treatment for anxiety and/or depression in adulthood.

METHODS

This prospective study consisted of 13-19-year-old participants in the Trøndelag Health Study (Young-HUNT3) in 2006-2008 (n = 2061, 1205 females and 856 males) in Norway, who also participated in HUNT4 (2017-2019). Survey data on health-related behaviours in adolescence, including low level of physical activity, low consumption of wholegrain bread, fish, fruit, vegetables and high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and insomnia were linked on an individual level to prospective information on drug use and diagnosis in national health registries. The different patterns of health-related behaviours were identified through latent class analysis. Subsequent anxiety or depression was defined as at least one recording in either of three registries covering recorded diagnosis in primary and specialist healthcare, or dispensed prescription drugs during 2008-2019. Additionally, self-reported psychological distress measured in young adulthood was applied as a supplemental outcome measure.

RESULTS

Four patterns of health-related behaviours were identified: high risk behaviours (class 1), moderate to high risk behaviours (class 2), low to moderate risk behaviours (class 3) and low risk behaviours (class 4). Adolescents in class 3 showed higher odds of subsequent diagnoses for anxiety and/or depression in primary and specialist healthcare compared to class 4 participants. In addition, both class 1 and class 4 participants had higher odds for self-reported psychological distress than those class 4 (OR = 1.56 and OR = 1.86, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that health-related behaviours are clustered among Norwegian adolescents. The patterns of unhealthy behaviours during adolescence only partly increased the risk of anxiety and depression in adulthood. Promoting healthy behaviours during adolescence may potentially reduce the burden of mental illness in adulthood, but further research is needed to clarify the nature of the relationships.

Mobile Applications and Healthy Habits of Adolescents, a Strange Couple: Pilot Study of the Efficacy of the Healthy Jeart App

The present study aims to analyse the healthy habits of a group of adolescents before and after an educational intervention using the Healthy Jeart mobile app. This is the first pilot study on Healthy Jeart, based on a single intervention with experimental and control groups. The participants were secondary education students in the third and fourth years, from an educational centre in Huelva (Spain). They were distributed between a control group and an experimental group. Information about their habits was obtained through a questionnaire prepared from the HSBC (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children) instrument, which was administered before and after the intervention. Although the results do not indicate a substantial change in the habits of the participants, there were some intragroup differences. In the experimental group, a difference was obtained in the feeling of being fit and healthy. The global perspective on health of the app would explain this change.

Physical activity, sugar-sweetened beverages, whole grain bread and insomnia among adolescents and psychological distress in adulthood: prospective data from the population-based HUNT study

Background

In this study, we examined the relationship between low levels of physical activity, high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and low consumption of whole grain bread and experiencing insomnia in adolescence and psychological distress in young adults.

Methods

This prospective study was based on information retrieved from the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) in Norway and included adolescents (age 13–19) participating in Young-HUNT3 (2006–2008) and in HUNT4 (2017–2019) 11 years later (age 23–31). The study sample consisted of 2,230 participants (1,287 females and 943 males). The exposure variables collected in adolescence included self-reported physical activity, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and whole grain bread and insomnia, and psychological distress in young adulthood was used as an outcome variable. The relationship between lifestyle behaviours in adolescence and psychological distress in young adulthood was examined using multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for gender, age and psychological distress in adolescence and educational level in young adulthood.

Results

An increased odds of psychological distress was shown among young adults who reported low levels of physical activity (OR: 1.44, 95 % CI: 1.10–2.89), high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (OR: 1.49, 95 % CI: 1.12–1.98), low consumption of whole grain bread (OR: 1.35, 95 % CI: 1.04–1.77) and insomnia (OR: 1.69, 95 % CI: 1.23–2.33) in adolescence. In terms of absolute differences, unhealthy lifestyle behaviours increased the risk of psychological distress in young adulthood between 3.18 (95 % CI: 0.29–6.07) (low whole grain bread consumption) and 6.01 (95 % CI: 1.95–10.07) (insomnia) percentage points.

Conclusions

Low levels of physical activity, high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and low consumption of whole grain bread and insomnia during adolescence were associated with psychological distress in young adulthood.

Lifestyle habits and depressive symptoms in Norwegian adolescents: a national cross-sectional study

Background

This study’s purpose was to examine the association between a broad range of lifestyle habits and depressive symptoms in Norwegian adolescents.

Methods

This study was based on national, self-reported, cross-sectional data from the Ungdata Surveys, conducted in 2017–2019. The target group comprised 244,250 adolescents (ages 13–19). Binominal logistic regression was used to analyse the association between lifestyle habits (physical activity, social media use, gaming, dietary habits, smoking, smokeless tobacco, alcohol intoxication) and depressive symptoms. The outcome measure was defined as a high level of depressive symptoms (≥80th percentile). Separate analyses were performed for boys and girls, and all models were adjusted for perceived family economy, parental higher education and age.

Results

The odds of having depressive symptoms were significantly lower among those who reported being physically active at least 3 times per week (OR; boys: 0.81, girls: 0.83), used social media ≤3 h per day (OR; boys: 0.65, girls: 0.70), engaged in gaming ≤3 h per day (OR; boys: 0.72, girls: 0.77), were non-smokers (OR; boys: 0.74, girls: 0.72) and had not experienced alcohol intoxication during the previous 12 months (OR; boys: 0.66, girls: 0.67). Furthermore, the results indicated a significant inverse association between depressive symptoms and high consumption of a range of healthy food items and low consumption of unhealthy food and beverages among girls. Similar tendencies were found among boys (OR; 0.77–0.91). Finally, higher adherence to healthy lifestyle habits was associated significantly with lower odds of having depressive symptoms among both genders (OR; boys: 0.40, girls: 0.52).

Conclusions

A healthier lifestyle was associated with lower odds of having depressive symptoms. Additional research is needed to confirm a possible causal relationship.

The Mediating and Moderating Effects of Physical Fitness of the Relationship between Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Health-Related Quality of Life in University Students

The aim of this study was to estimate the relationship between the adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in university students and to assess whether this relationship is mediated or moderated by cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and handgrip strength. A cross-sectional study was performed involving 310 first-year Spanish university students. Adherence to the MD was evaluated with the 14-item Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS), and the HRQoL was evaluated with the Short Form-12 (SF-12) questionnaire. CRF was assessed by the 20 m shuttle run test, and the handgrip strength was determined by dynamometry. ANCOVA models showed that participants with higher CRF and handgrip strength levels had significantly higher scores in the physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) of the SF-12 and in the MEDAS questionnaire than those with medium and low scores (p < 0.050). Additionally, the ANCOVA models showed that students with good adherence to the MD showed higher scores in the MCS of HRQoL than those with low adherence (p = 0.044, ES = 0.013), but these results did not appear for the PCS of HRQoL (p = 0.728, ES = 0.001). In the mediation analysis, it was found that CRF and handgrip strength acted as full mediators of the relationship between adherence to the MD and the MCS of HRQoL. In the moderation analysis, it was evidenced that CRF and handgrip strength did not act as moderators in the relationship between adherence to the MD and the MCS of HRQoL. In conclusion, adherence to the MD does not seem to have a direct effect on the MCS of HRQoL because this association seems to be fully mediated by CRF and handgrip strength.