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Fish consumption and depression in Korean adults: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2013–2015

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 72, pages 1142–1149 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives

There is a growing body of evidence that supports the potential role of fish consumption in relation to depression, but the data in Korean population is scarce. Thus, we examined the association between fish consumption and depression in Korean adults.

Subjects/methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study in 9183 Korean adults aged 19–64 years who participated in the 6TH Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013–2015), which is a large nationally representative study of Korean population. Fish consumption and depression status were assessed using questionnaires. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to compute odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for physician-diagnosed clinical depression.

Results

Out of the 9183 subjects, 389 (4.2%) were diagnosed with depression. After adjusting for potential confounders, the multivariable-adjusted ORs for clinical depression across fish consumption were 1.00 (reference) for <1 time/week, 0.76 (95% CI: 0.56–1.04) for 1–3 times/week and 0.52 (95% CI: 0.37–0.74) for ≥4 times/week (P for trend = 0.0005). The inverse association for ≥4 times/week of fish consumption was stronger in women (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.29–0.67, P for trend < .0001), but there was no significant association in men.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that high consumption of fish is associated with lower odds of depression in Korean adults, particularly in women. These results warrant further prospective studies to verify the association between fish consumption and risk of depression in Korean adults.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the participants and staff of the Korea Centers for Disease Control for their dedication and commitment. This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea, funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (NRF-2015R1A1A1A05001362). Funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea, funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (NRF-2015R1A1A1A05001362). Funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Food and Nutrition, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea

    Yeonji Yang & Youjin Je

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  1. Yeonji Yang
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Correspondence to Youjin Je.

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Yang, Y., Je, Y. Fish consumption and depression in Korean adults: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2013–2015. Eur J Clin Nutr 72, 1142–1149 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-017-0083-9

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