Physical activity levels affect mental health and behavior in men

Abstract

Psychological, nutritional, oral health, and physical activity habits are behavioral factors previously linked to depression. The objective of this study was to analyze differences in behavioral patterns, in terms of psychological, nutritional, oral health, and physical activity habits, in a sample of men. Six hundred and five men (36.7 ± 15 years, 25.7 ± 4.3 kg/m2) were interviewed through an online questionnaire due to the pandemic. A compendium of factors related to psychological parameters, oral health, nutritional habits, and physical activity was analyzed through a set of online questionnaires. We found that participants with higher levels of both aerobic and self-loading physical activity generally demonstrated better nutritional habits, including higher water intake (p < 0.001; Effect Size (ES) = 0.62 and p < 0.001; ES = 0.69, respectively), higher weekly consumption of meat (p = 0.007; ES = 3.10 and p < 0.001; ES = 0.40, respectively), fish (p < 0.001; ES = 3.13 and p = 0.023; ES = 0.22, respectively), eggs (p = 0.002; ES = 2.80 and p = 0.002; ES = 0.30, respectively), greater vitality (p < 0.001; ES = 0.50 and p = 0.006; ES = 0.21, respectively), and lower alcohol consumption, including beer (p = 0.007; ES = 0.25 and p < 0.001; ES = 0.36, respectively) and wine (p = 0.001; ES = 0.30 and p < 0.001; ES = 0.50), among other healthy habits compared to participants with lower levels of physical activity. We also found that participants with higher self-loading physical activity reported higher perceived stress (p = 0.003; ES = 0.02) and conscientiousness (p < 0.001; ES = 1.86).