Association Between Dietary Quality and Postpartum Depression in Lactating Women: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Urban China

Abstract

Background: Evidence on the effects of dietary quality on the risk of postpartum depression in the Chinese population is limited. This study aimed to examine the association between dietary quality and postpartum depression in Chinses lactating women.Methods: A total of 939 participants from 10 cities were included in this analysis. A one-time 24-h dietary recall was used to obtain the data on food consumption and dietary quality was assessed based on Diet Balance Index. The Edinburgh postnatal depression scale was considered at a cutoff point of 10 to detect postpartum depression. Poisson regression models were used to explore the association of dietary quality with postpartum depression.Results: Depressed women tended to have a more inadequate intake of vegetables and have more insufficient food variety. The median (25th, 75th) of the overall high bound score (HBS), low bound score (LBS), and diet quality distance (DQD) was 9 (5, 14), 30 (25, 37), and 40 (34, 47), respectively. Compared with subjects with the lowest quartile of LBS, those with the highest quartile of LBS had a higher risk of postpartum depression [adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR), 1.08; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.01, 1.15; P for trend, 0.043]. We also observed a significant association between DQD and postpartum depression (Q4 vs. Q1: aPR, 1.07; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.14; P for trend, 0.036).Conclusion: Poor dietary quality was associated with postpartum depression in Chinese lactating women.

Dietary intake and lifestyle practices of eastern mediterranean postpartum women before and during COVID-19 pandemic: An internet-based cross-sectional survey

“…Moreover, a statistically significant difference between the BMI categories among the five countries was found. Previous studies conducted in China (9) and Australia (3) showed a lower percentage (28.1%) of overweight postpartum women, where the mean postpartum BMI was 26.2 (5.0) which is similar to our participants' prepregnancy BMI. Regarding the other health characteristics, most of the postpartum women were not diagnosed with COVID-19, diabetes or gestational diabetes, hypertension, and thyroid disorders, despite that (75%) reported having health problems.…”

“…Other than that, 64% of our participants were physically active and 77% did not smoke during pregnancy, which decreased the risk of chronic diseases as mentioned above. Around half of them reported suffering from mild depression and anxiety, which is higher than the proportion reported in the Urban China study (9). These results might be related to the lower intake of fish or omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids during pregnancy and the postpartum period, as reported by Hamazaki et al ( 21).…”

“…The sociodemographic characteristics (age, education level, employment status, and family income) of postpartum women showed statistically significant differences between the five countries. The majority (80%) of the participants included were young adults (>25 years old), and more than half of the participants were educated and held a bachelor's degree, which is similar to most studies conducted on postpartum women ( 3 , 9 , 19 ). On the contrary, in a study conducted in Egypt, only a quarter of the postpartum women had a university education ( 2 ).…”

“…The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to be context-specific and differ depending on a variety of country-specific factors ( 8 ). It was reported that poor dietary quality was associated with postpartum depression in Chinese lactating women, where depressed women tended to have a more inadequate intake of vegetables and a more insufficient variety of foods ( 9 ). A significant decrease was observed in the consumption of fruits, followed by vegetables, and then salted and sweet cereals from pregnancy to post-partum in Spain.…”

Muscle Strength Moderates the Relationship between Nutritional Health Risk and Depression in Korean Older Adults

“…For example, malnutrition was found to be an independent risk factor for depression in older outpatients in Turkey [ 32 ] and community-dwelling older individuals in Bangladesh [ 33 ] and China [ 34 ]. Poor dietary quality was significantly associated with postpartum depression in a sample of 939 Chinese lactating women [ 35 ]. An association between nutritional health risk and depression was also reported by previous studies involving Korean older adults with multiple chronic diseases [ 36 ] and community-dwelling Korean older adults [ 19 ].…”