How Diet Affects Depression & Anxiety in Adolescents.

Rates of depression and anxiety are soaring among adolescents. Increasingly, research is showing that nutrition plays a crucial role in mental health. This new study provides important new clues for adolescents.

About 50% of people who experience common mental health disorders experience their first struggles before they reach 18. More and more research is pointing to an association between diet and mental health in young people.

This new study followed 6537 students from 71 secondary schools in Australia for 3 years. It found that eating more fruit was associated with a 13% lower risk of depression and a 7% lower risk of anxiety.

It also found that drinking more sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with 3.22 times the risk of depression 3.36 higher risk of anxiety. In males, the risk of anxiety went up 5 times!

This study suggests that increasing fruit and limiting sugar-sweetened beverages could be part of a strategy for reducing the risk of depression and anxiety at a time in life when they often first occur.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health. October 2026;doi.org/10.1111/camh.70129.

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