Little is known about the influence of people's diet on their psychological well-being. This study provides evidence of a link between the consumption of fruit and vegetables and high well-being. In cross-sectional data, happiness and mental health rise in an approximately dose-response way with the number of daily portions of fruit and vegetables. Well-being peaks at approximately 7 portions per day. We document this relationship in three data sets, covering approximately 80,000 randomly selected British individuals, and for seven measures of well-being (life satisfaction, WEMWBS mental well-being, GHQ mental disorders, self-reported health, happiness, nervousness, and feeling low). The pattern is robust to adjustment for a large number of other demographic, social and economic variables. Reverse causality and problems of confounding remain possible. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our analysis, how government policy-makers might wish to react to it, and what kinds of further research-especially randomized trials-would be valuable. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
CITATION STYLE
Blanchflower, D. G., Oswald, A. J., & Stewart-Brown, S. (2013). Is Psychological Well-Being Linked to the Consumption of Fruit and Vegetables? Social Indicators Research, 114(3), 785–801. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0173-y
Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.