Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jan 16:15:1450718.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1450718. eCollection 2024.

Takeaway food consumption and depressive symptoms in Chinese university students: mediating effects of physical activity

Jianyu Tan  1   2 , Rui Wang  1   2 , Zhewei Su  1   2 , Yiting Kong  1   2 , Pan Ran  1   2 , Andrew Greenshaw  3 , Su Hong  2 , Qi Zhang  1   2 , Wo Wang  4 , Ming Ai  1   2 , Li Kuang  2   4
Affiliations

Takeaway food consumption and depressive symptoms in Chinese university students: mediating effects of physical activity

Jianyu Tan et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: The consumption of takeaways is becoming increasingly prevalent. Despite this, the relationship between takeaway food consumption and depressive symptoms in Chinese populations has not been clarified. Furthermore, the factors that mediate the association between takeaway frequency and depressive symptoms are unknown.

Methods: Questionnaires were employed to collect data from 6,417 new students at Chongqing Medical University in the autumn of 2023, including sociodemographic information, takeaway frequency, physical activity levels (measured by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form), and depressive symptoms (measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9). Multiple linear regression and mediation analysis were performed. Multiple imputations were used to fill in missing data through sensitivity analyses.

Results: Among 6417 participants, 2,606 (40.6%) students ordered takeaway at least once a week, with 235 (3.7%) of them ordering takeaway food every day. Takeaway frequency was significantly associated with depressive symptoms (β=0.034, P=0.006), and physical activity partially mediated this relationship (95% bootstrap confidence interval=0.0024, 0.0371).

Conclusions: The study highlights the negative relationship between takeaway frequency and emotional well-being, emphasizing the need to focus on the emotional health of frequent takeaway food consumers. Moreover, our study suggests that increased physical activity may alleviate takeaway-induced mood-related outcomes.

Keywords: college students; depressive symptoms; mediation effect; physical activity; takeaway.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The framework for physical activity level mediating the relationship between takeaway frequency and depressive symptoms. ∗∗∗P < 0.001, ∗∗P < 0.01.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Du F, Cai H, Zhang Q, Chen Q, Shi H. Microplastics in take-out food containers. J Hazard Mater. (2020) 399:122969. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122969 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Li C, Mirosa M, Bremer P. Review of online food delivery platforms and their impacts on sustainability. Sustainability. (2020) 12:5528. doi: 10.3390/su12145528 - DOI
    1. Li F, Zhang J. Current consumption and problems of online food delivery of university students-A case study on students of Jiujiang college. J Hubei Univ Econ(Humanit Soc Sci). (2018) 12:40–2. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1671-0975.2018.12.012 - DOI
    1. Meituan Research Institute . Available online at: https://mri.meituan.com/research/home (Accessed 3.12.24).
    1. Statistical report on Internet Development in China . Available online at: https://www.cnnic.net.cn/n4/2023/0303/c88-10757.html (Accessed 3.12.24).

LinkOut - more resources