Is sweets consumption associated with depression? A cross-sectional study with 54,170 Brazilian adults and older adults

The objective is to analyze the association between depression and sweets consumption. Cross-sectional study carried out with data from VIGITEL (Brasil 2021). Surveillance of Risk Factors for Chronic Diseases by telephone survey, a system for monitoring the frequency and distribution of risk factors and protection against chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Brazilian adults ≥18 years. Crude Poisson regression, adjusted for sociodemographic and behavioral covariates, was used to verify the association between depression and sweets consumption. The total sample included 54.170 Brazilian adults. The consumption of sweets was reported by 25.6% and the diagnosis of depression by 11%. Consumption of sweets was associated with a statistically significant protection of 8% for the diagnosis of depression (95%CI 0.85-0.98). This finding can be seen as positive, as it encompasses a widely adopted, non-drug behavior. However, a warning should be raised about the harm caused by the exaggerated consumption of sweets.