1.D. Workshop: Emerging behavioral risk factors for mental health: a life-course perspective
Authors:   Organised by: EUPHA-FN, EUPHA-CHR,   Chair persons: Giuseppe Grosso (EUPHA-FN), Sarah Cuschieri (Malta)
Published: October 2021

Over the last decades, mental health disorders, including affective and cognitive disorders, have been recognized among the leading non-communicable diseases and have represented the major contributors to lower quality of life and shortened lifespan, in both young and adult population. Noteworthy, these conditions are often associated, if not prodromic, to other non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Together with the aforementioned disorders, sleep disorders have been of interest as emerging conditions, mainly due to their possible link to other morbidities. Given the limited access to effective treatments and their rather lengthy and expensive nature, early detection of mental disorders, identification of potential risk factors, and intervention to prevent chronic exposure to these factors is of paramount importance to control the rising globally prevalence. A growing body of literature has focused attention on potential risk factors for mental disorders, comprising environmental, behavioral, and dietary factors. Modern society is facing rapid changes caused by a rise in technological advances, global industrialization and urbanization, leading to the disruption of the circadian cycle due to continuous exposure to stimuli, such as light and acoustic pollution, busy working schedule, and societal challenges. Owing to the lack of adaptions to these transitions, it has led to the rise of non-communicable chronic diseases due to important changes in lifestyle factors, including, among others, adoption of unhealthy dietary patterns, lack of physical activity and worsened sleeping habits. The modern era is characterized by a “nutrition transition” process, a global shift from traditional dietary patterns toward so-called Western-like diets, defined by high intake of processed energy-dense foods containing refined sugars, trans-fatty acids, excessive sodium, and low consumption of plant-derived foods, accompanied by an unbalance between calorie intake and its expenditure through regular physical activity. There is a convincing evidence on the possible link between diet, physical activity and pathophysiology of mental health and sleep disorders that may contribute to the control of their prevalence. The prevention of mental disorders should be a leading task for public health policy makers, mainly as the prevalence of mental health disorders is rising globally, leading to lower life expectancy and generating great costs associated with health care. Given the interconnection between nutrition, physical activity, mental health, and chronic non-communicable diseases, the EUPHA Food and Nutrition Section and the Chronic Diseases Section aim to propose a joint workshop to bring together worldwide experts and to discuss the underrated role of dietary factors, physical activity, sleep features, and mental health in the modern society.

Key messages

There is growing evidence that modern lifestyle, including dietary and physical activity behaviors, may play an important role in mental health disorders. There is a need to address emerging behavioral risk factors in order to prevent public mental health disorders.