Association of longer eating duration with the risk of depressive symptoms in a Brazilian cohort of university students

Depression is a severe public health problem with high prevalence among university students. Lifestyle behaviors are modifiable and shorten eating duration may help improve mental health. The aim of the study is to analyze the association between longer eating duration and depressive symptoms in a cohort of university students. This longitudinal study evaluated 672 students who entered a public university in Brazil. Food consumption was assessed by 24 hR. Students were classified into terciles according to distribution of daily eating duration. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 assessed depressive symptoms at a cutoff point ≥10. The associations were estimated by generalized linear models for repeated measures. The adjusted analysis identified that, among women, the third tertile of daily eating duration was associated with a higher risk of depressive symptoms (RR = 1.99, 95% CI = 1.23, 3.21), compared to the second tertile, after 2 y of follow-up. Among male students, there was no association between eating duration and depressive symptoms throughout the follow-up. In conclusion, eating duration in the third tertile, greater than 14 h, was associated with a higher risk of depressive symptoms among female university students.