Food-based diet quality score in relation to depressive symptoms in young and middle-aged Japanese women

Abstract

Only a few studies have focused on the association between overall diet, rather than intakes of individual nutrients or foods, and depressive symptoms in Japanese. This cross-sectional study examined associations between a diet quality score and depressive symptoms in 3963 young (age 18 years) and 3833 middle-aged (mean age 47·9 (sd 4·2) years) Japanese women. Dietary information was collected using a diet history questionnaire. A previously developed diet quality score was computed mainly based on the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 22·0 % for young women and 16·8 % for middle-aged women, assessed as a Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) score ≥23 and ≥19, respectively. As expected, the diet quality score was associated positively with intakes of 'grain dishes', 'vegetable dishes', 'fish and meat dishes', 'milk' and 'fruits' and inversely with intakes of energy from 'snacks, confection and beverages' and Na from seasonings. After adjustment for potential confounders, OR for depressive symptoms in the highest v. lowest quintiles of the diet quality score was 0·65 (95 % CI 0·50, 0·84) in young women (P for trend=0·0005). In middle-aged women, the corresponding value was 0·59 (95 % CI 0·45, 0·78) (P for trend<0·0001). Analyses where the diet quality and CES-D scores were treated as continuous variables also showed inverse associations. In conclusion, this cross-sectional study showed that a higher diet quality score was associated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms in young and middle-aged Japanese women. Prospective studies are needed to confirm a public health relevance of this finding.

Association between Adherence to the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top and Sleep Quality in College Students

“…The Food Guide score was significantly associated with intakes of grains, green and yellow vegetables, non-green and yellow vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, seaweeds, and milk and milk products, because the Food Guide score is calculated from the adherence to the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top. This result is consistent with a previous cross-sectional study in terms of the significant associations between diet quality score and nutrient and food group intakes based on the DHQ [22]. In addition, another study reported that a higher diet quality score was significantly associated with higher intakes of cereals, vegetables, meat, fish, milk and milk products, and fruits, and lower energy intakes from confectioneries, sugar-sweetened beverages, and alcoholic beverages [24].…”

“…Recent studies have been conducted using pre-defined methods, and some of the studies have indicated dietary patterns for an assessment of dietary quality based on adherence to the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top [21,22,23,24]. The Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top was developed to help people implement the Dietary Guidelines for Japanese.…”

“…The Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top is a useful tool for assessing the dietary quality of Japanese people. Previous studies that have evaluated the degree of adherence to the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top (Food Guide score) have reported associations between the Food Guide score and the risk of total mortality [23], metabolic risk factors [24], and depressive symptoms [22]. However, any association of sleep quality with the Food Guide score (i.e., balanced dietary intake) has not been determined.…”

Diet quality and depressive symptoms among workers

“…In Japan, Sakai et al examined the cross-sectional association between diet quality score, mainly based on the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top, and depressive symptoms, and observed an inverse association between these variables among 3963 young (age 18 years) and 3833 middle-aged (mean age 47.9 years) women [9]. Although we observed no prospective association between dietary score and risk of depressive symptoms, the cross-sectional association was statistically significant, as in the previous study.…”

“…The association of the adherence to the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top with depressive symptoms is of much interest. A cross-sectional study among young and middleaged Japanese women reported that closer adherence to the Japanese guidelines was associated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms [9]. To date, however, no evidence has been obtained from prospective studies.…”