1. Food Insecurity, Poor Diet Quality, and Suboptimal Intakes of Folate and Iron Are Independently Associated with Perceived Mental Health in Canadian Adults.
- Author
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Davison KM, Gondara L, and Kaplan BJ
- Subjects
- Adult, Aged, Canada epidemiology, Cross-Sectional Studies, Dietary Fats administration & dosage, Dietary Fiber administration & dosage, Dietary Proteins administration & dosage, Female, Health Surveys, Humans, Logistic Models, Male, Micronutrients administration & dosage, Middle Aged, Multivariate Analysis, Socioeconomic Factors, Surveys and Questionnaires, Young Adult, Diet, Folic Acid administration & dosage, Food Quality, Food Supply, Iron administration & dosage, Mental Health
- Abstract
Background: To address nutrition-related population mental health data gaps, we examined relationships among food insecurity, diet quality, and perceived mental health., Methods: Stratified and logistic regression analyses of respondents aged 19-70 years from the Canadian Community Health Survey, Cycle 2.2 were conducted ( n = 15,546). Measures included the Household Food Security Survey Module, diet quality (i.e., comparisons to the Dietary Reference Intakes , Healthy Eating Index), perceived mental health (poor versus good), sociodemographics, and smoking., Results: In this sample, 6.9% were food insecure and 4.5% reported poor mental health. Stratified analysis of food security and mental health status by age/gender found associations for poor diet quality, protein, fat, fibre, and several micronutrients ( p -values < 0.05); those who were food insecure tended to have higher suboptimal intakes ( p -values < 0.05). After adjustment for covariates, associations in relation to mental health emerged for food insecurity (OR = 1.60, 95% CI 1.45-1.71), poor diet quality (1.61, 95% CI 1.34-1.81), and suboptimal intakes of folate (OR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.17-1.90) and iron (OR = 1.45, 95% CI 1.23-1.88)., Conclusions: Population approaches that improve food security and intakes of high quality diets may protect people from poor mental health.
- Published
- 2017
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