0342 Eating Habits, Depression, and Poor Sleep: Assessing the Associations in First-Year College Students

Abstract Introduction Transitioning from high school to college often poses significant challenges to students. In many cases, freshmen are now required for the first time to take care of their health habits, including making choices surrounding food and sleep. Diets higher in fats and lower in fruits and vegetables have frequently been associated with an increase in inflammatory biomarkers, which may lead to increased symptoms of depression and poorer sleep (Firth et al., 2019; Hagedorn et al., 2021). Methods Given the increased rate of depression (Liu et al., 2022) and sleep disturbance (Luo & Hu, 2022), we conducted a simple mediation analysis using PROCESS macro, Model 4, on first-year college students (N = 73), to assess whether eating habits predicted sleep quality directly, and indirectly via depressive symptoms. We hypothesized that eating habits would directly and indirectly predict sleep quality. Results Results indicated that there was no direct relationship between eating habits on sleep quality. However, we found that there was an indirect relationship between eating habits on sleep quality via depression. Conclusion Thus, our findings highlight the importance of having a well-balanced diet for different health outcomes. Given that depression and poor sleep are associated with poor school performance due to memory and concentration issues (Dillon & Pizzagalli, 2018; Hershner & Chervin, 2014), promoting healthy food choices for students is necessary to allow for success in college. Support (if any)