title: Diet quality and mental health in subsequent years among Canadian youth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between diet quality and the diagnosis of an internalizing disorder in children and adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective study examining the relationship between diet quality and mental health. FFQ responses of 3757 children were used to calculate a composite score for diet quality and its four components: variety, adequacy, moderation and balance. Physicians' diagnoses on internalizing disorders were obtained by linking the children's dietary information to administrative health data. Negative binomial regression models were used to examine the association between diet quality and diagnosis of an internalizing disorder.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A provincially representative sample of grade 5 students (age 10-11 years).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Diet quality was not found to be associated with internalizing disorder in a statistically significant manner (incidence rate ratio = 1.09; 95 % CI 0.73, 1.63). However, relative to children with little variety in their diets, children with greater variety in their diet had statistically significant lower rates of internalizing disorder in subsequent years (incidence rate ratio = 0.45; 95 % CI 0.25, 0.82).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest the importance of variety in children's diet and opportunities in the prevention of adolescent depression and anxiety.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Seanna E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: McMartin
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuhle
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Colman
authors.forename: Sara F L
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Veugelers
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D004032:Diet / Q000592:standards*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires