Dietary patterns, breakfast consumption, meals with family and associations with common mental disorders in adolescents: a school-based cross-sectional study

• Published in: BMC public health 2022-05, Vol.22 (1), p.980-10, Article 980
• Main Authors: Gratão, Lucia Helena Almeida, Pessoa, Milene Cristine, Rodrigues da Silva, Thales Philipe, Rocha, Luana Lara, Louise Cassimiro Inácio, Monique, Resende Prado Rangel de Oliveira, Tatiana, de Freitas Cunha, Cristiane, Mendes, Larissa Loures
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescence; Adolescent; Adolescents; Anxiety disorders; Beverages; Breakfast; Cardiovascular diseases; Consumption; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Diet; Eating; Eating behavior; Eating Behaviors; Feeding behavior; Feeding Behavior - psychology; Food; Food and nutrition; Food Habits; Health aspects; Health risks; Humans; Meals; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mental Health; Mental health care; Mental illness; Patient outcomes; Principal components analysis; Psychological aspects; Public Health; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Regression models; Schools; Social aspects; Software; Teenagers; Variables; Youth
• ISSN: 1471-2458; 1471-2458
• DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-13367-7

Adolescence is a period of transition and vulnerabilities, in which mental illnesses can develop more easily. The objective of this work is to analyze the association of dietary patterns, breakfast consumption, and the practice of having meals accompanied by the family with the presence of Common Mental Disorders in Brazilian adolescents. This is a cross-sectional study which analyzed data from 71,553 Brazilian adolescents aged 12-17 years, from the Study of Cardiovascular Risk in Adolescents (Portuguese acronym, "ERICA"). Principal Component Analysis was performed to identify dietary patterns, and Logistic Regression Models were performed to identify the associations between Common Mental Disorders, dietary patterns, and eating practices that are breakfast consumption and practice of having meals accompanied by family. Two patterns were found, a Healthy Dietary Pattern and an Unhealthy Dietary Pattern. Adolescents classified in the second (OR: 0.79; 95% CI 0.70-0.89) or third (OR: 0.86; 95% CI 0.77-0.96) tercile of the Healthy Dietary Pattern had a lower chance of having Common Mental Disorders. Eating breakfast sometimes (OR: 0.71; 95% CI 0.61-0.83) or almost every day/every day (OR: 0.54; 95% CI 0.47-0.62), and the practice of having the main meals with the family sometimes (OR: 0.69; 95% CI 0.57-0.84) or almost every day/every day (OR: 0.50; 95% CI 0.44-0.58), decreased the chance for Common Mental Disorders. This study observed that healthy dietary patterns are associated with better mental health in adolescents, thus should be encouraged and promoted.