Poor dietary quality is associated with anxious and depressive symptoms in university students

Background Anxiety and depression are common among university students and are aggravated by the academic pressures and personal changes typical of this phase. Unbalanced diets, especially those rich in ultra-processed foods, have been linked to worsening mental health. On the other hand, a healthy diet can act as a protective factor, eliminating the risk of these disorders. This study aims to assess the quality of the diet of university students with symptoms of anxiety and depression. Methods Multicenter cross-sectional study involving students from eight Brazilian public universities, with data collected between October 2021 and February 2022. Symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21. Diet quality was assessed based on the frequency of consumption of healthy and unhealthy foods. Poisson regression was used to analyze the association between diet quality and mental health symptoms, with significance set at p ≤ 0.05. Results The results indicate that 58.9% and 62.5% of university students had moderate to extremely severe symptoms of anxiety and depression, respectively. Students with poor diet quality were 25% more likely (PR = 1.25, 95%CI 1.19–1.32) to have symptoms of anxiety and 24% more likely (PR = 1.24, 95%CI 1.18–1.30) to report symptoms of depression, compared to those with high diet quality. Conclusion The high prevalence of anxiety and depression among university students, associated with poor dietary quality, reinforces the importance of promoting healthy habits and self-care practices among university students.