TY - JOUR
T1 - Identifying future study designs for mental health and social wellbeing associated with diets of a cohort living in eco-regions
T2 - findings from the INSUM Expert Workshop
AU - Elsner, Friederike
AU - Matthiessen, Lea Ellen
AU - Średnicka-Tober, Dominika
AU - Marx, Wolfgang
AU - O'Neil, Adrienne
AU - Welch, Ailsa A
AU - Hayhoe, Richard Peter
AU - Higgs, Suzanne
AU - van Vliet, Marja
AU - Morphew-Lu, Ephimia
AU - Kazimierczak, Renata
AU - Góralska-Walczak, Rita
AU - Kopczyńska, Klaudia
AU - Steenbuch Krabbe Bruun, Thea
AU - Rosane, Beatriz Philippi
AU - Gjedsted Bügel, Susanne
AU - Strassner, Carola
PY - 2022/12/30
Y1 - 2022/12/30
N2 - Diets influence our mental health and social wellbeing (MHSW) in multiple ways. A rising community concept, Eco-Regions, has gained interest. The research project "Indicators for assessment of health effects of consumption of sustainable, organic school meals in Ecoregions" (INSUM) aims to develop future-oriented research approaches to measure the potential health effects of more sustainable and healthy diets. This first part of the project focuses on MHSW with the goal to identify suitable study designs and indicators. The methodology is based on a 2-day workshop with an interdisciplinary group of experts. This paper describes commonly applied research methods on the nexus between diet and MHSW as presented by the experts and summarises key points from the discussions. The results show that the dominating tool to investigate MSHW is questionnaires. Questionnaires vary largely depending on the research design, such as participants or distribution channels. Cohort studies addressing families and including in-depth interventional and/or experimental studies may be suitable for an Eco-Region investigation. Those MHSW studies can be conducted and combined with measurements of somatic health effects. We conclude that indicators should be seen as complementary rather than independent. Explorative research designs are required to investigate complex Eco-Regions.
AB - Diets influence our mental health and social wellbeing (MHSW) in multiple ways. A rising community concept, Eco-Regions, has gained interest. The research project "Indicators for assessment of health effects of consumption of sustainable, organic school meals in Ecoregions" (INSUM) aims to develop future-oriented research approaches to measure the potential health effects of more sustainable and healthy diets. This first part of the project focuses on MHSW with the goal to identify suitable study designs and indicators. The methodology is based on a 2-day workshop with an interdisciplinary group of experts. This paper describes commonly applied research methods on the nexus between diet and MHSW as presented by the experts and summarises key points from the discussions. The results show that the dominating tool to investigate MSHW is questionnaires. Questionnaires vary largely depending on the research design, such as participants or distribution channels. Cohort studies addressing families and including in-depth interventional and/or experimental studies may be suitable for an Eco-Region investigation. Those MHSW studies can be conducted and combined with measurements of somatic health effects. We conclude that indicators should be seen as complementary rather than independent. Explorative research designs are required to investigate complex Eco-Regions.
KW - Humans
KW - Mental Health
KW - Diet
KW - Diet, Healthy
KW - Cohort Studies
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph20010669
DO - 10.3390/ijerph20010669
M3 - Conference article
C2 - 36612999
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 20
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 1
M1 - 669
ER -