Better cognitive performance and lower depression and anxiety are predicted by physical activity, but not the intake of healthy foods: a prospective study in a cohort of medical students exposed to psychological stress - Database
Description
Medical students have high academic achievements, but they are exposed to stress and they present a high prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Everyday diet and physical exercise may have an impact on mental health, but it is not well-studied under stress. The aim of the present paper was to check whether physical activity and the consumption of certain food products are associated with cognitive performance, depressive or anxiety symptoms severity under stress and if they are sex differences. Food consumption was self-assessed with the use of a 7-day dietary record and physical activity was assessed by a single-item scale. Cognitive functions assessment was based on academic examination performance in relation to subject knowledge. Depressive and anxiety symptoms severity were tested by psychometric measures. Among 444 volunteers, no significant relationship was observed between cognitive performance, depression and anxiety symptoms under stress and consumption of selected food products and their categories. However, the more physical activity, the more improvement of cognitive functions under stress (adj. β .09, 95%CI .01 to .18) and less severity of depressive (adj. β -.15, 95%CI -.24 to -.06) and anxiety symptoms (adj. β -.14, 95%CI -.23 to -.06). It appears as men benefit more from physical activity in mental health symptoms in comparison to women. Further studies are needed to check if it is a causative relationship.