The Intersectionality of Food Insecurity, Job Insecurity, Healthcare Insecurity, and Mental Health Challenges in NYC Households During Covid-19.

Our intersectional research explored food insecurity and job insecurity as predictors of healthcare insecurity and mental health challenges among households living in economic instability since the COVID19 pandemic began. The New York City COVID19 Research Team adapted a validated, web based, anonymous survey questionnaire using a Social Determinants of Health Framework. The study oversampled underserved populations with a total of 2,099 participants. We report strong associations between food insecurity and job insecurity among healthcare insecure households, and significant mental health challenges among food insecure and healthcare insecure households. This underscores the need for integrated social policies to protect underserved urban populations.

Dietary Factors, Time of the Week, Physical Fitness and Saliva Cortisol: Their Modulatory Effect on Mental Distress and Mood.

Background: The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of diet quality and physical fitness on saliva cortisol, mood, and mental distress. These relationships were compared between a peak weekday (Wednesday) and a weekend day (Saturday) when mood may fluctuate. Methods: Forty-eight healthy college students participated in the study. Participants completed the Mood and Anxiety Symptom (MASQ) and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale 10 questionnaires on Wednesday and Saturday and recorded their diet for three days. Saliva was collected before and after a workout for cortisol extraction. Results: SA had significantly higher saliva cortisol levels post-workout but lower MASQ scores on Saturday (p < 0.05). There was a very significant association between MASQ scores on Wednesday (p = 0.005), which became less significant on Saturday. In addition, lower BMI values and high-fat consumption were associated with higher cortisol levels after exercise (p < 0.05). Conclusions: There is a strong link between dietary factors, cortisol levels, mood, and time of the week. In addition, our results suggest that saliva cortisol levels may not be directly linked to negative affect but are influenced by diet quality when mental distress exists. In addition, physical fitness may play a role in improving mood during weekends.

Diet, Exercise, Lifestyle, and Mental Distress among Young and Mature Men and Women: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study.

Customization of mental health therapies needs to consider the differences in degree of brain maturity between young (18-29 years) and mature (30 years or older) adults as well as brain morphology among men and women. The aim of this study was to identify the significant dietary and lifestyle contributors to mental distress in these sub-populations. Independent repeated cross-sectional sampling was performed for over a 5-year period (2014-2019) to collect data from different populations at different time-points and seasons. A backward stepwise regression analysis was used on 2628 records. Mental distress in young women was associated with high consumption of caffeine and fast-food, and it was negatively correlated with moderate-high levels of exercise as well as frequent breakfast consumption. Mature women shared several common factors with young women; however, high fruit consumption was negatively associated with mental distress. For young men, high exercise, moderate consumption of dairy, and moderate-high intake of meat were negatively associated with mental distress. In addition, high fast-food and caffeine consumption were positively associated with mental distress in young men. For mature men, strong negative associations between higher education, moderate intake of nuts and mental distress surfaced. Our results support the need to customize dietary and lifestyle recommendations to improve mental wellbeing.