Fish consumption and depression: the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort study

Timonen, Markku; Horrobin, David; Jokelainen, Jari; Laitinen, Jaana; Herva, Anne; Räsänen, Pirkko

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2004.02.002

« Previous Next »Journal of Affective Disorders
Volume 82, Issue 3 , Pages 447-452, 1 November 2004

Fish consumption and depression: the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort study☆

Markku Timonen
- Corresponding author. Department of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of Oulu, Box 5000, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland. Tel.: +358-8-537-5658; fax: +358-8-537-5661.
- Department of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of Oulu, Box 5000, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland
- Oulu Health Center, Box 8, FIN-90015 City of Oulu, Finland
David Horrobin
- Laxdale LTD, Kings Park House, Laurelhill Business Park, Polmaise Road, Stirling FK7 JQ, UK
Jari Jokelainen
- Department of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of Oulu, Box 5000, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland
- Unit of General Practice, Oulu University Hospital, 90029 OYS, Finland
Jaana Laitinen
- Oulu Regional Institute of Occupational Health, Aapistie 1, FIN-90220 Oulu, Finland
Anne Herva
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Box 5000, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Box 26, 90029 OYS, Finland
Pirkko Räsänen
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Box 5000, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Box 26, 90029 OYS, Finland

Received 12 June 2003; received in revised form 16 February 2004; accepted 16 February 2004.

Abstract

Background: Since low fish consumption and omega-3 fatty acids have recently been linked with depression, we investigated by means of a large, general population database, whether a low fish consumption is associated with increased risk of developing depression. Methods: The Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort was followed up prospectively from pregnancy up to the age of 31 years. The data on HSCL-25 depression subscale, doctor-diagnosed life-time depression and fish consumption (during the previous 6 months) of cohort members were obtained by postal questionnaires at the age of 31. The final number of cohort members, whose completed variable information was available in multivariate logistic analyses, was 2721 males and 2968 females. Results: After adjusting for body mass index, serum total cholesterol level and socioeconomic situation, logistic regression analyses showed that among females the risk of developing depression increased up to 2.6-fold (95%CI 1.4–5.1) among rare fish eaters when compared with regular eaters. In males, there were no significant differences between rare and regular fish eaters for any of the estimates of depression. Limitations: The data on life-time fish consumption of cohort members were not available. Conclusions: A low frequency of fish consumption was statistically significantly associated with depression in women, but not in men. Possible background-theories behind the gender difference are discussed.

Keywords: Cohort study, Depression, Fish consumption