Fish consumption and depression: the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort study.
BACKGROUND
Since low fish consumption and omega-3 fatty acids have recently been linked with depression, we investigated by means of a large, general population database, whether a low fish consumption is associated with increased risk of developing depression.


METHODS
The Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort was followed up prospectively from pregnancy up to the age of 31 years. The data on HSCL-25 depression subscale, doctor-diagnosed life-time depression and fish consumption (during the previous 6 months) of cohort members were obtained by postal questionnaires at the age of 31. The final number of cohort members, whose completed variable information was available in multivariate logistic analyses, was 2721 males and 2968 females.


RESULTS
After adjusting for body mass index, serum total cholesterol level and socioeconomic situation, logistic regression analyses showed that among females the risk of developing depression increased up to 2.6-fold (95%CI 1.4-5.1) among rare fish eaters when compared with regular eaters. In males, there were no significant differences between rare and regular fish eaters for any of the estimates of depression.


CONCLUSIONS
The data on life-time fish consumption of cohort members were not available.


CONCLUSIONS
A low frequency of fish consumption was statistically significantly associated with depression in women, but not in men. Possible background-theories behind the gender difference are discussed.
Timonen
Markku
M
Department of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of Oulu, Box 5000, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland. markku.timonen@oulu.fi
Horrobin
David
D
Jokelainen
Jari
J
Laitinen
Jaana
J
Herva
Anne
A
Räsänen
Pirkko
P
D000818:Animals; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004032:Diet; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005399:Fishes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017747:Seafood; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D002784:Cholesterol