Ocean, N orcid.org/0000-0002-2869-6383, Howley, P orcid.org/0000-0002-3385-629X and Ensor, J (2019) Lettuce be happy: A longitudinal UK study on the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and well-being. Social Science & Medicine, 222. pp. 335-345. ISSN 0277-9536
Abstract
Rationale: While the role of diet in influencing physical health is now well-established, some recent research suggests that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables could play a role in enhancing mental well-being. A limitation with much of this existing research is its reliance on cross-sectional correlations, convenience samples, and/or lack of adequate controls.
Objective: We aim to add to the emerging literature on the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and well-being by using longitudinal data from a study in the United Kingdom (UK).
Method: We employ panel data analytical techniques on three waves collected between 2010 and 2017 (i.e., following the same individuals over time) in the UK Household Longitudinal Survey. We also control for time-variant confounders such as diet, health, and lifestyle behaviours.
Results: Fixed effects regressions show that mental well-being (GHQ-12) responds in a dose-response fashion to increases in both the quantity and the frequency of fruit and vegetables consumed. This relationship is robust to the use of subjective well-being (life satisfaction) instead of mental well-being. We also document a hump-shaped relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and age.
Conclusion: Our findings provide further evidence that persuading people to consume more fruits and vegetables may not only benefit their physical health in the long-run, but also their mental well-being in the short-run.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | UK; Well-being; GHQ-12; Fruit and vegetables; Diet; UKHLS; Panel data; Fixed-effects |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Business (Leeds) > Economics Division (LUBS) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number BBSRC BB/N02060X/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 13 Dec 2018 12:08 |
Last Modified: | 27 Feb 2019 16:21 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.12.017 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:139937 |