Dear Editor:

We have read with great interest the recently published article in this journal by Irina Lazarevich and colleagues (¹). This article conducts an analysis of the potential association between symptoms of depression and the consumption of sweet foods in a population of first-year university students from a Mexican university. In the interpretation of the results, it is mentioned that 34.56 % of the participants considered in the study population were overweight. This raises the question of whether it is appropriate to attribute the presence of eating behavior disorders to depression, or if there might be other etiological causes involved in overweight, which may not necessarily be related to emotional eating (EE).

Furthermore, it is important to consider that this study was conducted cross-sectionally in a public university in Mexico City, focusing on first-year university students (¹). However, it would be beneficial to broaden the research perspective to include both first-year students and those in their final year of studies. This is supported by evidence that psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, among others, tend to manifest in students aged between 17 and 25 years (²). In this age group, it is common to experience feelings of sadness, loss of interest or pleasure in life, guilt, or diminished self-esteem, as well as problems related to sleep and eating. These factors can lead to a sense of fatigue that negatively impacts academic performance and quality of life. Furthermore, it has been observed that these disorders can contribute to alcohol and substance abuse, reduce empathy, and increase academic dishonesty (³). It is important to highlight that these psychological disorders are more prevalent in the later years of university studies, due to the increasing emotional burden these entail (⁴).