A Comparison of Sugar Intake between Individuals with High and Low Trait Anxiety: Results from the NutriNet-Santé Study

Junko Kose (1) , Adrienne Cheung (1, 2) , Léopold Fezeu (1) , Sandrine Péneau (1) , Charlotte Debras (1) , Mathilde Touvier (1) , Serge Hercberg (1, 3) , Pilar Galan (1) , Valentina Andreeva (1)

1 CRESS - U1153 - Equipe 3: EREN- Equipe de Recherche en Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle
2 OHRI - Ottawa Hospital Research Institute [Ottawa]
3 Département de Santé Publique [Avicenne]

(1) Background: Dietary carbohydrates are likely correlated with mental health in general, and with anxiety in particular. Our aim was to investigate the cross-sectional relationship between trait anxiety and carbohydrate (especially sugar) intake in a large sample derived from the general French population. (2) Methods: The analyses included 20,231 non-diabetic adults enrolled in the NutriNet-Santé e-cohort, who had completed the trait anxiety subscale of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (T-STAI, 2013–2016) and who were subsequently divided into high and low trait anxiety groups (T-STAI cut-off of 40 points). Sugar-rich food and macronutrient intake was calculated from ≥3 self-administered 24-h dietary records. The association between trait anxiety and carbohydrate intake was evaluated by ANCOVA according to age category (<45 and ≥45 years). (3) Results: In the full sample, 7942 (39.3%) individuals fell into the high trait anxiety category. They were more likely to be women (82.2% versus 69.2%; p < 0.0001) and younger (mean age 51.6 versus 55.1 years; p < 0.0001) compared to the low trait anxiety group. In fully-adjusted models, high-anxiety individuals aged under 45 years had significantly higher mean consumption of added simple sugars (43.9 versus 42.3 g/d; p < 0.0007), whereas those aged over 45 years with high trait anxiety had significantly lower mean consumption of fruit (214.0 versus 219.5 g/d; p < 0.02) compared to their low-anxiety counterparts. (4) Conclusions: This cross-sectional study revealed modest age-specific associations between anxiety status and sugar intake among adults. Prospective studies with representative samples are needed to explore potential bi-directionality of the observed associations.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]; Santé publique et épidémiologie

Junko Kose, Adrienne Cheung, Léopold Fezeu, Sandrine Péneau, Charlotte Debras, et al.. A Comparison of Sugar Intake between Individuals with High and Low Trait Anxiety: Results from the NutriNet-Santé Study. Nutrients, 2021, 13 (5), pp.1526. ⟨10.3390/nu13051526⟩. ⟨hal-03255452⟩