Date of Conferral

7-2-2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Health

Advisor

Howell Sasser

Abstract

Physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and a lack of understanding of menopause adversely affect mental health and quality of life in women entering menopause. Metabolic changes during this period can lead to an increase in visceral fat, loss of muscle mass, depression, and anxiety. These metabolic changes are linked to a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. This cross-sectional quantitative study, guided by the health belief model, explored the contribution of adopting specific nutrition strategies, exercise, and education in women during menopause transition to help manage mental health (as measured by depression and tension), and quality of life, controlling for age, income, alcohol consumption, and smoking. The research is based on a secondary analysis of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Visit 04, 2000–2002. The population consisted of 3,302 participants who were between the ages of 42 and 52, spoke or read English, resided near the clinical site, and had a valid race/ethnicity classification. Lack of menopause education was significantly associated with depression (OR=0.605, p=0.018). There were no statistically significant findings for nutrition or exercise with mental health or quality of life suggesting that developing educational strategies can help empower women experiencing menopause. These results underscore the need for additional research to explore the impact of nutrition and exercise in menopause. Implications for positive social change include developing strategies for lifestyle changes with a patient-centered approach to nutrition, exercise, and menopause education and targeted interventions with public health initiatives for this population. This could reduce the risk of CVD, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.

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