Nutr Res Pract.  2025 Feb;19(1):55-65. 10.4162/nrp.2025.19.1.55.

Depressive symptoms, eating habits, and dietary quality among young adults in Chungcheong, Korea

• Yoon SH
• Choi MK

• KMID: 2565396
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2025.19.1.55

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES
The prevalence of depression has increased globally, and depressive symptoms have been reported to lead to undesirable lifestyle choices, including poor eating behaviors. The aim of this study was to assess the severity of depressive symptoms in young adults and to investigate the differences in eating habits and dietary quality by the degree of these symptoms.
SUBJECTS/METHODS
This cross-sectional study included 497 young adults aged 19–39 yrs living in Chungcheong, Korea. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale, and eating habits and dietary quality were surveyed using questionnaires and nutrition quotient (NQ) for Korean adults.
RESULTS
The prevalence of depression in the participants was approximately 31.4%, based on a depressive symptom score of 16 on the CES-D scale, and the proportion of women was significantly higher than men. The depressed group considered food combinations and consumed snacks more frequently than the nondepressed group. No statistically significant differences were found in the total NQ score between the depressed and nondepressed groups; however, the moderation score was significantly lower in the depressed group for all participants and female participants.
CONCLUSION
We found that dietary quality, including snacking and moderation-related eating habits, varied with the degree of depressive symptoms in young adults. Further intervention studies are needed to clarify the association between dietary factors and depressive symptom.

Keyword

Depressive symptoms; eating habits; diet; young adult

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Distribution of the subjects by depressive symptom score. P-value indicate a significant difference between men and women by χ2 test.1)Depressive symptom scores by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale.

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