Is nutritional status associated with depression? evidence from a cross-sectional study among workers in tertiary educational institutions in southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: different studies have shown a relationship between depression and nutrition, but there seems to be no consistent consensus on this. This study therefore investigated the relationship of nutrition status and depression among workers in tertiary educational institutions in Southwestern Nigeria.

Methods: this was a cross-sectional study conducted among 399 members of staff of three tertiary educational institutions in Osun State, Southwestern Nigeria. Depression was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), while nutritional status was assessed using the body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and waist hip ratio (WHR). The respondents were selected using multi-stage sampling technique, and data were collected using pre-tested structured questionnaires. Analysis was done using IBM SPSS.

Results: the mean age of the respondents was 45.8 ± 10.4 years. The prevalence of depression was 23.8%. Concerning the nutritional status of respondents, 2.3% were underweight and 69.7% were overweight/obese. There were statistically significant associations between depression and the nutritional status of the respondents using BMI (p = 0.001), WHR (p = 0.015) and waist circumference (p = 0.036). After controlling for other factors, only the BMI was still significantly associated with depression, such that those underweight were more likely to be depressed (Odds ratio: 7.9; p-value: 0.009).

Conclusion: the prevalence of depression among the respondents was relatively high, and this was significantly associated with the BMI, even after controlling for co-founders.