A new research has confirmed that a fat-rich diet can reduce depression risk. After gathering massive amount of European data, researchers found a significant association between the ones who eat fish regularly and a 17% reduction in depression risk in comparison to the ones eating it less.

Study researchers have carried out an analysis of 26 global studies that involved more than 1, 50,000 people. The assessment unveiled that a 17% reduction in risk was found among those eating fish. When the researchers looked the case in men and women separately then the reduction in risk was more in men than in women.

Prof Dongfeng Zhang from the Medical College of Qingdao University said that having a lot of fish may be significant to prevent depression. But the link needs to be further investigated in order to know whether the association varies as per the type of fish.

On the global level, depression affects around 350 million people. By 2020, it is estimated that depression can become the second-leading cause of health problems in people and will become the leading contributor to disease burden.

As per the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), one out of 10 people suffer from major depression and almost one out of five persons have suffered from it during their lifetime. The WHO says that almost one million lives are lost due to depression yearly.