Jacka, Kremer, Berk, 2011

In this study, 3040 Australian adolescents, aged 11–18 years at baseline, were measured in
2005–6 and 2007–8. Information on diet and mental health was collected by self-report and
anthropometric data by trained researchers.

A group of teenage Australians were assessed in 2005-6 and 2007-8. The information on
their mental health and diet was collected through reports the students had filled out
themselves and information such as height and weight was collected by trained
researchers.

While two recent studies have also demonstrated cross-sectional associations between diet
quality and emotional and behavioural problems [8] and depression [9] in adolescents,
there are no existing studies that examine this association in adolescents prospectively,
limiting inferences regarding possible causal relationships.

Other studies have shown that the diet of teenagers is linked to emotional and
behavioural problems and depression but none have followed the teenagers over time
which makes it difficult to know if the diet actually caused the problems.

Higher healthy diet scores at baseline also predicted higher PedsQL scores at follow-up,
while higher unhealthy diet scores at baseline predicted lower PedsQL scores at follow-up.
Improvements in diet quality were mirrored by improvements in mental health over the
follow-up period, while deteriorating diet quality was associated with poorer psychological
functioning.

Teenagers with healthier diets scored better on the mental health test and teenagers with
unhealthy diets scored lower on the mental health test. Teenagers who improved their
diets also saw an improvement in their mental health and teenagers who’s diets had
gotten worse saw a decline in their mental health.

Moreover, the foods available and provided to adolescents need to be receiving much
greater attention. Given the findings from this study, particular attention should now be
paid to creating environments that promote healthy eating and engaging parents in
supporting adolescents to maintain good nutrition during a difficult life stage.

Since we now know the importance of diets in a teenagers life, the food provided for
them needs to improve. Promoting healthy eating is very important for teenagers to
maintain healthy diets during an important stage of their life.

It would be very informative to show how different diets can have different effects on
different teenager’s mental health. This would help the teenagers improve their mental
health and would give them good directions on how to start and continue to eat
healthier.

I found it difficult to understand some parts of the paper that used a lot of abbreviations
because I had to find what they meant and constantly remember to be able to read the
paper. Parts of the data charts took me some time to understand but after understanding
them it helped me understand the results better.