Does a Healthy Diet Protect Against Depression in Adolescence?

Building on prior work showing a cross-sectional relationship between diet, body-mass index (BMI), and depressive symptoms at age 14 years, investigators from Australia further analyzed data from a longitudinal study of pregnant women and their offspring (the Raine Study) to determine if diet quality (frequency of consumption of meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) at age 14 predicted similar outcomes at age 17.

A total of 853 offspring (51% female) had BMI recorded and completed the Beck Depression Inventory for Youth and the Youth Self Report of the Child Behavior Checklist at ages 14 and 17. The cohort also had levels of the inflammatory markers serum leptin and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) measured at age 17.…