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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Chow Do People Eat Fast Food Because They're Sad?

Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 1:02 PM

Or are they sad because they eat fast food? Here's an unusually non-sensational headline on the topic: "Fast Food Linked to Depression."

The abstract of the study reads in part:

After a median follow-up of 6·2 years, 493 cases of depression were reported. A higher risk of depression was associated with consumption of fast food (fifth (Q5) v. first quintile (Q1): hazard ratio (HR) = 1·36; 95 % CI 1·02, 1·81; P trend = 0·003). The results did not change after adjustment for the consumption of other food items. No linear relationship was found between the consumption of commercial baked goods and depression. Participants belonging to consumption quintiles Q2–Q5 showed an increased risk of depression compared with those belonging to the lowest level of consumption (Q1; HR = 1·38; 95 % CI 1·06, 1·80).

Conclusions: Fast-food and commercial baked goods consumption may have a detrimental effect on depression risk.

Note the "may," which is where a lot of mainstream media depart from logic with their headlines (and interpretations).

Maybe we shouldn't have a McDonald's at Sea-Tac? Airports are pretty depressing already—even if you're going somewhere awesome, you have to take off your shoes and get porno-scanned and wait and wait and wait, all with overpriced drinks.

Thanks to Rob Man. And let us note that many—maybe most—people eat fast food because they're poor (among other factors) (with poverty certainly not itself obviating sadness).

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Comments (14) RSS

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There's no mention of causality, except in their conclusion, which I think is misleading. They can't say whether fast food causes depression or if depressed people are more likely to eat fast food (because it takes less energy to obtain than either fresh or more expensive prepared food, is my hypothesis).

Posted by Ptera on April 3, 2012 at 1:18 PM

Yup! those things called taste buds on your tongue are just so you can tell when your eating shit to satisfy your depression.

Posted by slade

on April 3, 2012 at 1:30 PM

Cooking is work. When you're depressed, you really don't have the energy to do work. You just want to feel a good as you can manage, easy easily as you can manage.

Then there's the fact that easy fat and salt works a bit like cocaine on your brain.

I'm not convinced there's a clean, simple one-way causality here, though. There are a lot of factors in modern society contributing to both depression and the consumption of fast food, AND the two things could definitely reinforce one another. Anyway, one way or another I'm not surprised to see a strong correlation. Good to have the work out there, though. It's a useful dataset, potentially.

Posted by balderdash

on April 3, 2012 at 1:44 PM

Comfort food should be decadent.

Posted by Rotten666 on April 3, 2012 at 2:01 PM

When I am depressed I dont want to go grocery shopping. When I run out of food at home the easiest way to eat is fast food.

Posted by nannerb88 on April 3, 2012 at 2:11 PM

Your final, small print comment is probably the correct path of causality, Bethany. Socio-economic status is almost always one of the top predictors in both clinical depression research and health research.

Being poor, disadvantaged, and/or a minority accounts for a huge percentage of the variance in most studies of depression, poor health, poor life outcomes, and so forth.

Posted by Urgutha Forka on April 3, 2012 at 2:32 PM

"The meal is not over when I'm full. The meal is over when I hate myself." ~Louis C.K.

Posted by gloomy gus on April 3, 2012 at 2:50 PM

You notice how on Intervention there are always far more KFC and Taco Bell wrappers around than any other fast food? You know why? Only fast food (around here anyway) that you can get in bulk. You don't have to leave your car, you don't have to get clean clothes on or look presentable or overcome deepseated anxiety to get some chicken in a bucket or a dozen burritos, and you only have to do it twice a week to keep constantly fed. For sad sick people, it might be the only thing they can easily get.

Posted by gnot on April 3, 2012 at 2:51 PM

The same argument could be made for sweatpants.

Posted by Dougsf on April 3, 2012 at 3:55 PM

I eat fast food when I'm sad that I'm poor. I eat really well when I have money.

Posted by monkey on April 3, 2012 at 4:56 PM

I eat fast food when I'm depressed because it makes me happier.

Posted by rinohog on April 3, 2012 at 5:26 PM

Hey Pal, how wounded question you through here! People eat past food when they need but how they do it when they sad! Please I've an request to inform us about it. Thanks.

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Posted by croxtonpowel on April 4, 2012 at 3:50 AM

Posted by croxtonpowel on April 4, 2012 at 3:52 AM

When we decide to eat we Decide what we want to eat, what flavor is attractive, yes we heare that voice in our heads that say "Im lazy and dont want to cook" sometimes but its over in a flash and we are off to satisfy a craving like pregnant women do so well. Garlic Dill Pickles dipped in Chinese mustard or deep fried german chocolate cake or what ever.

Its a fact! we use cravings to validate our existence? I joined the police force for the doughnuts and I go to baseball games for the peanuts and I go to the fair for the curly cakes.

I go to the all you can eat sea food buffet at foody goody as I am a depressed Asian American Male with a 4.0 grade point average?

I dig Bar-B-Que Jones as I am A depressed Black male with out of date Nike Air Jordans that I know dam well people are talking about behind my back ?

You should not blame your brain for what your gut is putting you through as your case of the squirts may be blamed on your emotions.

Posted by slade

on April 4, 2012 at 12:13 PM