Frequency of breakfast consumption is inversely associated with the risk of depressive symptoms among Chinese university students: A cross-sectional study

Eating breakfast has been proved to positively influence human health. However, evidence for the association between breakfast consumption and depressive symptoms is lacking, especially among young adults. The aim of this study was to determine whether breakfast consumption is associated with depres...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2019-08, Vol.14 (8), p.e0222014-e0222014
Main Authors: Zhu, Zhihong, Cui, Yufei, Gong, Qiang, Huang, Cong, Guo, Feng, Li, Wang, Zhang, Wenbo, Chen, Yanbo, Cheng, Xin, Wang, Yongxiang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biology and Life Sciences
Breakfast
Breakfast foods
College students
Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic
Consumption
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depression (Mood disorder)
Depression - diagnosis
Depression - epidemiology
Depression - etiology
Disease Susceptibility
Epidemiology
Exercise
Feeding Behavior
Female
Females
Food and nutrition
Food habits
Health
Humans
Male
Males
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Mental Health
Nutrition
Older people
People and Places
Physical education
Physical fitness
Physical Sciences
Psychiatry
Psychological aspects
Public Health Surveillance
Questionnaires
Regression analysis
Regression models
Research and Analysis Methods
Risk factors
Self Report
Social Sciences
Students
Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
Universities
University students
Women
Young adults
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Summary:Eating breakfast has been proved to positively influence human health. However, evidence for the association between breakfast consumption and depressive symptoms is lacking, especially among young adults. The aim of this study was to determine whether breakfast consumption is associated with depressive symptoms among Chinese university students. A cross-sectional study involving 10,174 undergraduate students (6,287 males and 3,887 females) was conducted in 2015. Breakfast consumption was assessed using a self-reported questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Zung self-rating depression scale (SDS) score. Three cut-off values of the SDS score (40, 45, and 50) were used to assess the severity of the depressive symptoms. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the association between the frequency of breakfast consumption and depressive symptoms. The mean SDS score was 37.1±8.0 in present study. In crude model, a higher frequency of breakfast consumption was primarily associated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms in all three SDS groups (p = 0.001, < 0.001, = 0.009 for SDS cut-off value 40, 45, and 50 points, respectively). These associations remained significant after adjustment for confounding factors. A higher frequency of breakfast consumption was strongly associated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms among Chinese university students. These results corroborate the evidence that the habit of eating breakfast may be beneficial to mental health.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0222014