The association between food craving and depression in a sample of female university students: A cross-sectional study

Based on previous evidence, depression may be related to certain food cravings. Since food culture of every society could influence this association and there are few studies in Iran in this regard, present study performed to evaluate the relationship between depression and food craving.  

The study was cross-sectional and participants were 100 female students of Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences in the year 2013 that were entered into the study by random sampling method. Depression was assessed by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) questionnaire and food craving was evaluated by a validated questionnaire named Food Craving Inventory (FCI-Persian). Methods for statistical analysis include Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients. The Analysis was conducted using SPSS version 16 statistical software.  

The statistical significant correlation was not found between depression and food craving. However, depression had a significant positive correlation with jelly craving (r = 0.272 and P = 0.006) and inverse correlation with pickle craving  (r = -0.238, P = 0.017). The correlation between food craving and BMI was not statistically significant. However, the mean BMI was associated with the cocoa chocolate craving (r = -0.288, P=0.004). Additionally, significant association was found between the days’ number after the start of menstruation and food craving to some items such as kebob, red meat, pasta and rice.  

The findings of the present study showed that depressive states in students were associated with more jelly consumption and less consumption of pickles. It seems that the recommendation to consume foods with low carbohydrate and calorie content along with psychotherapy strategies to alleviate depression, can maintain health and prevent overweight and obesity in female students. In addition, further studies are needed to show that pre-menstrual food cravings, such as cravings for rice, pasta, and red meat, may be a physiological response of body to provide carbohydrate and micronutrients such as iron, zinc, and B vitamins in order to reduce the physical and psychological symptoms of pre menstrual syndrome.