ArticlePublic health nutrition2020
Maternal mental health symptoms are positively associated with child dietary diversity and meal frequency but not nutritional status in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Maternal mental health and infant and young child undernutrition: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Nepal journal of epidemiology · 2026Review
- Perinatal depression and adverse child growth outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs): A systematic review and meta-analysis.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
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5 authors.
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Abstract
objectiveThe objective was to examine the association between symptoms of maternal mental health problems and child diet and nutritional status in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo.
designMaternal depression and anxiety symptoms were measured by the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25), and post-traumatic stress was measured by the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ). Participants were classified as having high psychological distress if their mean item score was in the upper quartile of both measures. Dependent variables included child dietary diversity, meal frequency, height-for-age z score (HAZ), weight-for-age z score (WAZ), weight-for-height z score (WHZ), stunting and underweight. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were conducted.
settingThe study was nested in a larger quasi-experimental study evaluating Jenga Jamaa II, a food and nutrition assistance project in Uvira and Fizi territories.
participantsIn total, 812 mother-child pairs participated. Children ranged from 2·6 to 5·6 years of age.
resultsHSCL-25 (ß: 0·18, P < 0·05) and HTQ (ß: 0·19, P < 0·05) were statistically significantly associated with higher dietary diversity scores, and all maternal mental health measures were associated with higher meal frequency (HSCL-25: ß: 0·13, P = 0·001; HTQ: ß: 0·12, P = 0·001; high distress: ß: 0·15, P < 0·05) and consumption of at least three meals/snacks per day (HSCL-25: OR: 2·06, HTQ: OR: 1·93, high distress: OR: 2·68, P < 0·001 for all). No significant associations were found with HAZ, WAZ, WHZ, stunting or underweight indicators.
conclusionsMore severe symptoms of maternal mental health problems were positively associated with child diet, but not anthropometry indicators. More research is needed to understand the role of maternal mental health in child feeding practices in food insecure and resource-poor settings.
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