Depression is supposed to be associated with an unhealthy lifestyle, including a poor diet. The objective of this study was to investigate differences in diet quality between patients with a clinical diagnosis of depression and population-based controls. Additionally, the researchers aimed to examine the effects of specific depression characteristics on diet, analyzing whether diet quality varies among patients with distinct subtypes of depression and whether depression severity is associated with diet quality. The method used by the researchers included 1660 participants in the BiDirect study, with 840 patients suffering from depression and 820 population controls. Psychiatric evaluation was based on clinical interviews and a combination of depression scales to provide classification of depression subtypes and severity. Diet quality scores, which reflected adherence to a healthy dietary pattern, were calculated based on an 18-item food frequency questionnaire. Using analysis of covariance, the researchers calculated adjusted means of diet quality scores and tested differences between groups, which were adjusted for socio-demographic, lifestyle and health-related factors. In this study, no difference in diet quality was found between controls and patients with depression if depression was a single entity.