<p> Over the past two decades, Americans' omega-3 FA intake has been decreasing while the U.S. rate of depression diagnoses and antidepressant prescriptions have been increasing. The purpose of this thesis was to examine the relationship between dietary omega-3 FA intake and depression scores using a sample data set of U.S. adult survey participants in the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Specifically, this study examined the relationship between depression scores and dietary EPA, dietary DHA and total 30-day supplementation of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Results showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between each independent variable and total depression scores; furthermore, indicating that as dietary EPA, DHA and 30-day PUFA intakes increase, depression scores decrease. Although results were statistically significant, the <i>R<sup> 2</sup></i> values suggest low predictive power; thus, results are not generalizable to the entire population.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:1527930 |
| Date | 08 August 2014 |
| Creators | Frietas, Tara Nicholle Lynn |
| Publisher | California State University, Long Beach |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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