Violence and aggression are considered to be important public health issues. There is limited data on the association between dietary intake and aggression score.
Aim:
We aimed to examine the relationship between the dietary intake and aggressive behavior in Iranian adolescent girls.
Methods:
The study was carried out among 670 girls aged 12–18 years. A valid and reliable food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) containing 147 food items was used to estimate dietary intake of the study participants. Aggression score was determined using a validated Persian version of the Buss–Perry questionnaire. We analyzed our data using crude and adjusted models.
Results:
Participants in the fourth quartile of aggression score had significantly higher energy intake compared with those in the first quartile (2808±949 vs 2629±819, p-trend = 0.01). Dietary intakes of soluble fiber (0.42±0.37 vs 0.35±0.29, p = 0.03) and insoluble fiber (2.17±1.65 vs 1.82±1.36, p = 0.02) were significantly higher in the first quartile than in the fourth quartile. In addition, the strongest negative correlations were found between aggression score and dietary soluble fiber (p = 0.003) and insoluble fiber intake (p = 0.001). Moreover, aggression score was negatively correlated with dietary α-carotene (p = 0.02) and β-carotene (p = 0.04) intake. These associations remained significant even after adjustment for potential confounders.
Conclusions:
Our results indicated that dietary intakes of fiber, α-carotene, and β-carotene were inversely associated with aggression score. Moreover, a significant positive association was observed between energy intake and aggression score in adolescent girls.
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