Dietary Patterns and Depression

Introduction

Dietary patterns have strong influence on depression in middle age and older women, according to the author of the article. The dietary pattern of an individual determines their livelihood, and various bodily functions. A good diet is likely to set individuals to a positive frame of mind because they able to nourish their systems appropriately. In addition to this, the diet that people practice has a direct impact on their health, as well as the ability to fight diseases. These concepts have an influence on the state of mind of an individual and can cause varying degrees of depression.

According to previous studies, depression is the fourth leading cause of the burden of diseases on the global scale. It affects the state of mind and reduces the productivity of people because they spend more time focusing on their problems. There are a number of causes of depression, but dietary constraints have a significant influence because they limit the functions of the body. Comprehending the direct influence of nutrients on the state of the brain is a significant help in understanding the role of food in depressive cases.

The author provides a focus on the effects of depression on the elderly women of the population. This is because recent statistics indicate that women are 1.7 times, likely to be vulnerable to depression than their male counterparts. There is an emphasis on older women who have more responsibilities than their younger colleagues. In fact, the trend of depression keeps increasing with age, with younger people having fewer issues to depress them than the older members of society. Thus, providing a focus on the influence of diet over the stress levels in older women will help to yield accurate results about this phenomenon (Gabbard, 2013).

The author reveals some useful findings in the quest to understand the role of depression in older women. From the research, it is clear that there is a little evidence to show credibility in the influence of diet on depression. A number of cross-sectional studies and their results indicate that individual foods and nutrients bear inconclusive results against influencing depression. Some of the reasons for this are that there are some nutrients that can affect intestinal absorption and impact on the state of health of the individual. However, this is not likely to be the reason for depression in older women.

Similarly, nutrients come from a varying array of food, and it is almost impossible to track their influence on depression. These nutrients have a high correlation with each other and make the results of depressive studies null and void. However, there are some prospective studies that indicate that a good diet is likely to lower the instance of depression in older women. For instance, common foods that have a positive impact on the state of mind in older women include caffeine, fish, and foliate. However, within the same study, nutrients that have importance to human beings such as vitamin D, fatty acids, and zinc bear inconclusive results in depression.

The author is able to make these conclusions on the basis of previous research studies on the subject. In addition, there is extra information from the author on the basis of the conclusions from the research results. There is a pragmatic approach in describing the role of different food patterns and its direct impact on depression in older women. However, determining the definite impact of these diets will require further in-depth studies to draw conclusive results (Smith, 2007).

The type design of the research is causal design. Causal design is a research which use a given variable to establish the relationship between the variable and a given phenomenon. The research tries to analyze the relationship between dietery patterns of people and the depression experienced by them. The results of the study outline that women who practice western dietery patterns are more vulnerable to depression than those who do not. However, overall perspective of the results with inclusion of other variable such as psychology flattens the results. The main finding is that there is no significant relationship between dietery patterns and depression.

Evaluation

(a)

The author makes an effort to review previous studies to draw conclusions. These studies indicate past experiments and procedures for extracting information out of the results of monitoring different dietary patterns. A big part of the argument comes from past research and scientific evidence to make up an argument. The author relies on books, past experiments and research work from institutions to determine the correlation between depression and diet in older women. The past studies provide information to build on this argument and depict an accurate conclusion on the subject. The author used limitations and strengths of previous studies relevant to the subject to draw up an improved version of the study.

The author even goes further to make use of research and scientific results from the World Health Program to understand the leading cause of depression in women. These past studies have the approval of a greater part of the scientific community and offers substantial information in support of the impact of different diets. According to the WHO, the lifetime prevalence of depression in the United States stands at 19.2 percent. This makes depression episodes, both chronic and recurrent, and greatly affects older women in society. Relying on these sources of past information enables the author to provide reliable information about dietary patterns and the influence of depression.

The author is meticulous to make use of current and relevant research to draw their conclusions. This is because the literature in the review comes from credible research and scientific backgrounds. Most of the information comes from research work from the past decade, and it incorporates the lifestyle and orientations of the modern world. In deriving information from the WHO, the author maintains relevance on the health impact of diets on depression in older women. Therefore, the results are helpful in providing an indication of the definite advantages of food nutrients on the state of mind of individuals (Li, Fitzgerald & Rodin 2012). Furthermore, the research incorporates the relevant previous studies to develop its search. For instance, it uses the three prospective studies that explain the subject phenomenon in adulthood.

(b)

The research design that the author makes use of is a prospective study with over fifty thousand participants. The type of design is a causal design. This is because it finds how out the relationship between dietery patterns and depression. A majority of the sample population partaking of this review is between the ages of fifty and seventy seven. The aim of the author is to determine the influence of dietary constraints on depression and the state of mind in older women. This research design is direct and specific towards deriving an accurate result. The author relies on the older segment of the population because of their experience and contribution to the society.

In the study, the author is in the nature of the participants bearing results of the experiments. This is because the study makes use of individuals who do not have depression, according to the Nurses’ Health Study between 1996 and 2008. The women within this bracket are likely to provide decisive results because it is possible to follow and keep track of their dietary patterns. This is because the main part of their nutrient absorption in observation is their long term dietary pattern.

According to the author, assessing the long term diet of the participants in the study was through the use of FFQ’s. It is the most effective method of assessing the nutrient absorption among the older women in society because the sample directly represents them. The use of the FFQ’s has been applied since 1986 to provide a regular pattern of the foods that the sample has been taking. Thus, the two main patterns that apply to this study are the Western and the Prudent patterns; the Western patterns are high in meats while the Prudent patterns are high in vegetables (Mead, 2005).

(c)

There are a number of problems that the sample displays in relation to the study. For instance, the available sample does not have the characteristics to yield a correct outcome. In addition, the sample size is quite small because the effects of depression affect a majority of women. A bigger and diverse sample size is appropriate because it would help to determine both types of diets, and their influence on the older women in society (Lobb, 2005).

The other problem with the sample in the study is that it does not give a proper representation of the population under study. The sample is composed of only women from a distinct society, consequently, neglecting the rest of the world. An excellent sampling technique is that which uses a standard system of designing a sample. There is the need to represent a greater diversity, across women from different backgrounds and culture to understand the true effect of diets on their state of mind. This way, it would be possible to make conclusions that represent the interests of the majority of older women in the communities.

Similarly, this study is quick to point out the fact that women suffer the effects of depression on a larger scale than men. However, the study does not make use of any male participants to definitively prove this point. Instead, the author relies on past studies to illustrate deductions about dietary patterns and its effects with depression. The use of a few male subjects would be necessary in determining variations in diets and the effect it has on their state of minds. This would be a good method to understand the reason behind the prevalence of depression among older women in society (McGee, 2008).

Another problem with the sample in this study is that the composition was mainly women from the white race. It is not possible to draw accurate conclusions about women across the board by relying on the results from women within a race. Instead, incorporating all races within this study would help the researchers understand the varying influence of diets on the greater population. The common perception in this case is that women from a similar race will exhibit similarities in their dietary patterns and not be able to provide comprehensive information for women from other races.

It is necessary to ensure that there is diversity on all fronts of the study to determine the true influence of diets on depression. The sample size should not have any restrictions because the main aim is to determine the impact of depression in older women. Therefore, by evaluating competing ideas and different types of people, it would be possible to conclude accurately on the foods, as well as the causes of depression. A systematic approach to selecting the sample is necessary to guarantee precise findings for older women in all societies.

(d)

There are a number of biases that affects the findings of this study. The first one is gender bias. The author used women and neglected other members of the society. Consequently, the results of the study are inclined towards showing the relationship between dietery patterns and depression in women. On the part of the author, there is a lot of reliance on women from a region and race. This bias results in the author making conclusions on the basis of a set of older women while ignoring other members of society. This has the effect of yielding inconclusive results because it does not reflect the dietary patterns of all women across society. This bias makes the author restrict the study, and the findings do not reflect the thoughts and opinions of other recent research work.

Another bias that the author makes that affects the findings of the research is limiting the respondents to the Nurses’ Health Study. It is necessary to divulge and add other respondents in the study to determine the effects of diets across the board. The author relies on older women from the nurses’ studies and does not utilize their own selection when making the conclusions. The findings of this study would be more conclusive if it was utilizing the information and records from new and independent respondents because they might reveal variations with the results from other studies (Mobbs, 2012).

The author also has a bias in selecting a sample with members of the same gender. There are a lot of evidence and results from other research works which indicate that men suffer a smaller extent of the phenomenon than women. Having a few male subjects in the sample would not only help to reveal this fact, but also show the differences in diet. The author makes it compulsory to comprehend the general effects of dietary patterns in older women without showing a comparison to men within the same age bracket.

Evidence of bias is present in the manner in which the study draws its conclusions. This is because there is no follow up activity or evaluation of the sample participants relevant to the study. The fact that the author does not perform a suitable follow up or evaluation during the study leaves the findings subject to attrition bias. Thus, this has an impact on the findings because any changes in the dietary patterns, can cause a difference in the conclusion. A follow-up is necessary to affirm the main conclusions of the study in relation to the effects of dietary patterns on depression.

Strengths

There are a number of points within the article that articulate the strength of the author’s argument and the findings. The first strength is that the article makes use of recent and peer-reviewed articles, making it current and relevant. What is more, by basing the findings on previous research work, the evidence of good work from the author is obvious. A majority of the points in the results and conclusion base their facts on recent information that is relevant in the modern world. In addition to this, the previous work helps to add credibility to the article from a neutral perspective (Merson, Black & Mills, 2005).

The article also displays its ability to detail information by stating clear objectives for the study. The author is quite specific in referring to previous research works to indicate that the objective of the study would revolve around elder women. In addition to this, the article takes a straightforward approach in describing the different types of diet and their impact on depression. Further, the article also clearly states the significance and novelty of the study. This allows the author to draw accurate conclusions on the basis of the findings in the duration of the study.

Lastly, most of the information accessible to the author of the article was through mail response. This is a particular advantage for the study because it is possible to ask multiple questions to the respondents. A majority of the older women who were remitting their responses had the freedom to include additional information. In the process of research, this information is crucial as it could cause a variance in the final findings and conclusion of the study. Thus, the author and the researchers had a lot of information to use the additional facts to outline appropriate finale for the study.

Weaknesses

There are a number of short comings that affect the overall findings and conclusion of this study. Firstly, the reliance on mail-out as a method of enlisting participants is vulnerable to non-response bias. Since the study has no control over the respondents, it is likely that there could be a few reliable sources of information. This unreliability is likely to affect the quality of the study and the results will be open to doubt. Secondly, the study lacks substantial information because its generalization is questionable. The author relays crucial information concerning older women and their dietary patterns. However, there is no information on their male counterparts that would offer comprehensive information about the problem of depression. With the work lacking a suitable comparison component, the final conclusions is open for debate. This makes them unreliable and inconclusive for any subsequent studies (American Psychiatric Association, 2012).

Despite the tables being clear and comprehensive in the work, the author does not make an effort to make them easier to understand. For an average reader, the tables represent a complication in the array of figures and statements. Therefore, it would not be possible to clearly interpret the contents of this visual aid. In addition, another weakness is on the display as the findings were drawn to self-reported data. This means that there are no alternatives or references to the author in making conclusions about the study. In addition to this, there are no evaluation follow up of the program, making it difficult to back the main objectives of the work (Mason, 2008).

Conclusion

The author does a good job of linking dietary patterns in older women to depression. However, a comparison of the same study with men of a similar age would help to give an accurate comparison. This would be useful in determining the definite influence of diets on depression because the conclusion of the study could not find a link between depression risk and dietary patterns. In addition to this, the study would exhibit improvement if it would utilize other sources of information without relying only on self-reported data. This would be significant in linking the study of general facts and make the conclusion more realistic and relatable in the modern world. The research sample design should make a good representation of the population. Respondents should be taken from all parts of the world. In addition, the sample should not have any form of bias in terms of tribe, race, gender and age. The outcome of the study should be expressed in a simple manner to create ease of understanding.

References

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