Abstract
Little is known about the influence of people’s diet on their psychological well-being. This study provides evidence of a link between the consumption of fruit and vegetables and high well-being. In cross-sectional data, happiness and mental health rise in an approximately dose–response way with the number of daily portions of fruit and vegetables. Well-being peaks at approximately 7 portions per day. We document this relationship in three data sets, covering approximately 80,000 randomly selected British individuals, and for seven measures of well-being (life satisfaction, WEMWBS mental well-being, GHQ mental disorders, self-reported health, happiness, nervousness, and feeling low). The pattern is robust to adjustment for a large number of other demographic, social and economic variables. Reverse causality and problems of confounding remain possible. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our analysis, how government policy-makers might wish to react to it, and what kinds of further research—especially randomized trials—would be valuable.
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Appendix: Data Description
Appendix: Data Description
Scottish Health Survey
Mean | Standard deviation | |
---|---|---|
Life satisfaction | 7.6266 | 1.8858 |
Warwick-Edinburgh | 49.8446 | 8.4733 |
GHQ mental ill-being | 10.7911 | 5.0023 |
Self-reported health | 3.9902 | 0.9572 |
One portion of fruit and vegetables is 80 g of any fruit or vegetable as defined by the Department of Health. A portion of fruit includes orange juice.
1.1 Life Satisfaction Question
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All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole nowadays?
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0—Extremely dissatisfied
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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9
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10—Extremely satisfied
1.2 Self-Reported Health Question
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How is your health in general? Would you say it was
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5…very good,
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4 good,
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3 fair,
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2 bad, or
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1 very bad?
Welsh Health Survey 2008
Mean | Standard deviation | |
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Happiness | 3.7181 | 0.9086 |
Nervous | 1.6889 | 0.9738 |
Downhearted and low | 1.9329 | 1.0136 |
1.3 Survey Question
These questions are about how you feel and how things have been with you during the past 4 weeks. For each question, please give the one answer that comes closest to the way you have been feeling. How much of the time during the past 4 weeks. (1) Have you been happy? (2) Have you been very nervous? (3) Have you felt downhearted and low?—none of the time; a little of the time; some of the time; most of the time; all of the time?
Health Survey of England, 2008
Mean | Standard deviation | |
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GHQ | 10.4975 | 4.8910 |
1.4 GHQ Definition
In the GHQ measure, individuals answer 12 separate mental-distress questions: “Have you lost much sleep over worry?”; “Been able to concentrate on things?”; “Felt you are playing a useful part in things?”; “Felt capable of making decisions about things?”; “Felt constantly under strain?”; “Felt you could not overcome your difficulties?”; “Been able to enjoy your normal day-to-day activities”; “Been able to face up to your problems”; “Been feeling unhappy and depressed?”; “Been losing confidence in yourself?”; “Been thinking of yourself as a worthless person?”; “Been feeling reasonably happy all things considered?”. People in the surveys are asked to answer on a scale from ‘much more than usual’ down to ‘much less than usual’.
Portions of fruit and vegetables per day (% of the population)
None | 0.054 |
>0 portion but less than 2 | 0.171 |
2 portions or more but less than 3 | 0.166 |
3 portions or more but less than 4 | 0.169 |
4 portions or more but less than 5 | 0.139 |
5 portions or more but less than 6 | 0.116 |
6 portions or more but less than 7 | 0.072 |
7 portions or more but less than 8 | 0.043 |
8 portions or more | 0.070 |
WEMWBS Well-being Survey Questions
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Blanchflower, D.G., Oswald, A.J. & Stewart-Brown, S. Is Psychological Well-Being Linked to the Consumption of Fruit and Vegetables?. Soc Indic Res 114, 785–801 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0173-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0173-y