Diet Quality and Mental Health Amongst Acute Inpatient Psychiatric Patients

Abstract

This is the first study that explored the self-reported dietary habits of acute psychiatric inpatients. We found that 75% of the psychiatric inpatients have an unhealthy diet, which correlates with higher body mass index (BMI) and lower education level. We also found an increased sugar consumption in inpatients with schizophrenia. The link between nutrition and mental health has been explored to a limited extent owing to the cumbersome nature of conducting research that involves specific dietary intervention and follow up. Yet, there is existing literature linking poor diet with impaired mental health and poor recovery from depression, amongst other disorders. Good nutrition can be exemplified with diets like the Mediterranean diet with a focus on certain food groups that provide the nutrients linked to neurotransmitters and a fairly new concept of the gut-brain axis. A Mediterranean-style dietary intervention supplemented with fish oil improves diet quality and mental health in people with depression. A randomised controlled trial published in the nutritional neuroscience journal yielded a positive outcome and improvement in the overall well-being of the patients enrolled. We explored the dietary habits of acute inpatients. After gathering a detailed diet history, their food habits were compared to a Mediterranean dietary index to assess their dietary patterns. Additionally, variables such as socio-economic characteristics, physical activity, income, BMI, and educational achievement were taken into consideration, with the intention to understand the effect of these factors on a diet consumed by acute patients and the relationship of the diet with their mental wellbeing. Ultimately, this study aims at an important aspect of preventive mental health, i.e., improved dietary habits (e.g., Mediterranean diet) may contribute to more rapid symptoms resolution and acute stabilization on a short-stay inpatient unit.