Fruit Consumption and Mental Health in Adolescents from Multicultural and Non-multicultural Families: Data from Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web Based Survey 2021

The multicultural adolescent population in Korea is growing, which highlights the need to understand and support this group. However, few studies have addressed the association between diet and mental health in this population. This study aimed to understand the association between fruit consumption and mental health in Korean adolescents from multicultural and non-multicultural families. Using data from the 17th Youth Health Behavior Survey, 40,382 non-multicultural and 1,169 multicultural adolescents were analyzed for sex, economic status, residential area, and school type. The associations between the weekly frequency of fruit consumption and experiences of depression, stress, and loneliness were also examined, considering the complex sampling design. The findings revealed that multicultural adolescents had a lower family economic status and showed a lower weekly frequency of fruit consumption but a higher ratio of experiencing stress than non-multicultural adolescents. Low fruit consumption was associated with increased depression, stress, and loneliness among non-multicultural adolescents. Multicultural adolescents with low fruit consumption were 1.3 times more likely to experience stress than non-multicultural adolescents; however, no clear trend between fruit consumption frequency and stress experience was observed. Furthermore, fruit consumption was not associated with depression or loneliness among multicultural adolescents. Multicultural adolescents face dietary challenges and loneliness; however, the association between fruit consumption and mental health remains unclear. Targeted interventions are necessary to address the unique needs of multicultural adolescents and to promote better dietary habits and mental well-being.