This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

The food choices teenagers make could have implications beyond their physical health, with new research from the University of Sydney linking food choices and sugar consumption to the later emergence of depression and anxiety symptoms.

Published in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, the study followed 6,537 adolescents from 71 secondary schools across New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia from seventh to 10th grade. Participants were 12.5 years old on average at the start of the study and completed annual surveys over four years during high school.

Researchers found that eating one additional serving of any type of fruit each day was associated with a 13% lower risk of depression symptoms and a 7% lower risk of anxiety symptoms over the study period. Average fruit consumption ranged from 2 to 2.5 servings a day across the study period.

Higher consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks, including soft drinks, sweetened drink concentrates and sports drinks, was associated with an increased risk of depression and anxiety. The association with sugary drinks was observed in male and female teenagers, but was stronger in males, particularly for anxiety.

Lead author Dr. Lily Davidson, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sydney's Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, said adolescence was an important time to investigate the relationship between food and mental health.

"High school is a time when young people start gaining much more independence over what they eat and drink, at the same time as many mental health problems start to emerge," she said.

Source link