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Habitual yoghurt consumption and depressive symptoms in a general population study of 19,596 adults

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Abstract

Purpose

Epidemiological studies directly examining the association between habitual yoghurt consumption and mental health remain scarce. The aim of this study is to investigate the association of yoghurt consumption with depressive symptoms in adults.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study of 19,596 Chinese adults (mean age 41.2, standard deviation 11.8 years; males, 54.3%). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). Dietary intake was obtained through a valid food frequency questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the association between yoghurt consumption and depressive symptoms. A number of potential confounders were adjusted in the model.

Results

The prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms was 17.1% (SDS ≥45). The multivariable adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) of having elevated depressive symptoms by increasing levels of yoghurt consumption (1–3 times/week, 4–7 times/week, and  ≥twice/day) were 1.05 (0.96, 1.15), 1.02 (0.91, 1.15), and 2.10 (1.61, 2.73) in comparison with lowest consumption group (<once/week or hardly ever).

Conclusions

These findings suggest no significant association between habitual yoghurt consumption and self-reported depressive symptoms, while the relatively high frequency of yoghurt consumption (≥twice/day), which was seen in a small subset of subjects, was associated with increased depressive symptoms. These results need to be interpreted with caution because of the cross-sectional nature of the data.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 81673166, 81372118, 81372467 and 81302422), the Key Technologies R&D Program of Tianjin (nos. 11ZCGYSY05700, 12ZCZDSY20400, 13ZCZDSY20200, and 15YFYZSY00020), the National Science and Technology Support Program (no. 2012BAI02B02), Chinese Nutrition Society (CNS) Nutrition Research Foundation-DSM Research Fund (nos. 2014-071, 2016-046 and 2016-023), the Technologies Development Program of Beichen District of Tianjin (nos. bcws2013-21, bcws2014-05, and 2015-SHGY-02), the Technologies Project of Tianjin Binhai New Area (nos. 2013-02-04 and 2013-02-06), the Science Foundation of Tianjin Medical University (nos. 2010KY28 and 2013KYQ24), the Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety (Fudan University), Ministry of Education (no. GW2014-5), the National Training Programs of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Undergraduates (no. 201510062013), Ministry of Education Project of Humanities and Social Sciences (no. 12YJC190036), and Scholarship from China Scholarship Council (CSC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutritional Epidemiology Institute and School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, 22 Qixiangtai Road, Heping District, Tianjin, 300070, China

    Bin Yu, Qi Zhu, Ge Meng, Yeqing Gu, Hongmei Wu, Yang Xia, Xue Bao, Qian Su, Liyun Fang, Fei Yu, Huijun Yang & Kaijun Niu

  2. Health Management Centre, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China

    Qing Zhang, Li Liu, Hongbin Shi, Shaomei Sun, Xing Wang, Ming Zhou, Qiyu Jia, Kun Song & Kaijun Niu

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK

    Bin Yu & Andrew Steptoe

  4. Institute of Psychology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China

    Bin Yu

  5. Department of Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China

    Qi Guo

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  1. Bin Yu
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  2. Qi Zhu
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  3. Ge Meng
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  11. Qian Su
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Correspondence to Kaijun Niu.

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Yu, B., Zhu, Q., Meng, G. et al. Habitual yoghurt consumption and depressive symptoms in a general population study of 19,596 adults. Eur J Nutr 57, 2621–2628 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-017-1532-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-017-1532-x

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