Maternal Common Mental Disorder as Predictors of Stunting among Children Aged 6-59 Months in Western Ethiopia: A Case-Control Study

Abstract

Background. Child malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries still continues to be an alarming. Africa and Asia bear the greatest share of all forms of malnutrition. The association between maternal common mental disorder and stunting has not been studied well even in developed countries; much less in developing countries and even the findings are conflicting. Thus, the purpose of the present research was to investigate the relationship of maternal common mental disorder and child stunting. Methods. Institution based unmatched case-control study design was employed from March to April 2017. Two hundred thirty-four sampled children (78 cases and 156 controls) were randomly selected. Anthropometric measurements (height/length and weight) were taken by calibrated instruments. Maternal common mental disorder (CMD) was measured by using the locally validated Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20). Data entry was done by Epi data version 3.1 and analysis was done by SPSS 21.0 statistical software. Result. Finding of this study found out about three-fourths of cases (71.8%) and three-fourths of controls (69.9%) were residing in rural and urban areas, respectively. Regarding maternal common mental disorder, more than half of cases mother (53.8%) and more than one-tenth of controls mother (13.5%) were found to have common mental disorder. The study showed that children of mothers who had common mental disorder were found to be three times more likelihood of developing stunting than children whose mothers had not common mental disorder. Conclusion and Recommendation. The study indicated that maternal common mental disorder was significantly associated with stunting. Therefore, emphasis should be given in preventing, managing, and maintaining maternal mental health in order to prevent stunting.

Maternal depressive symptoms are not associated with child anaemia: A cross‐sectional population study in Peru, 2015

“…Only one design that considered major depression diagnosis found association with chronic malnutrition in children at 3 and 6 months old (Adewuya et al, 2008). The relationship between children stunting and maternal depressive symptoms is evident with prevalence of chronic malnutrition around 20% to 40% (Anato et al, 2020; Black et al, 2009; Girma et al, 2019; Harpham et al, 2005; Nguyen et al, 2014; Stewart et al, 2008), like our nutritional proxy prevalence (28.6%). Just two longitudinal research from Bangladesh (Nasreen et al, 2013) and England (Husain et al, 2012) found nonsignificant findings with these variables.…”

“…T A B L E 4 Multivariable analysis between depressive symptoms in the mother and anaemia in the children, Peru 2015 malnutrition around 20% to 40% (Anato et al, 2020;Black et al, 2009;Girma et al, 2019;Harpham et al, 2005;Nguyen et al, 2014;Stewart et al, 2008), like our nutritional proxy prevalence (28.6%). Just two longitudinal research from Bangladesh (Nasreen et al, 2013) and England (Husain et al, 2012) found nonsignificant findings with these variables.…”

“…This variation might be explained because we used an observational instrument for screening depressive symptoms, as it did by Neamah et al (2018) and Motlhatlhedi et al (2017). Other studies have applied different methods for depression screening and found significant and nonsignificant results with children nutritional status (Anato et al, 2020; Ashaba et al, 2015; Brentani & Fink, 2016; Fisher et al, 2015; Girma et al, 2019; Moreira et al, 2017; Saeed et al, 2017; Wemakor & Mensah, 2016). Only one design that considered major depression diagnosis found association with chronic malnutrition in children at 3 and 6 months old (Adewuya et al, 2008).…”

“…Regarding the prevalence of maternal depression in our sample, it was lower than in many of the reviewed studies. This variation might be Fisher et al, 2015;Girma et al, 2019;Moreira et al, 2017;Saeed et al, 2017;Wemakor & Mensah, 2016). Only one design that considered major depression diagnosis found association with chronic malnutrition in children at 3 and 6 months old (Adewuya et al, 2008).…”

Microbiota control of maternal behavior regulates early postnatal growth of offspring

“…For example, several epidemiological studies of mother-infant pairs in developing countries with high prevalence of childhood undernutrition revealed that there is high association between childhood growth failure and poor maternal mental health (Rahman, Lovel, Bunn, Iqbal, & Harrington, 2004;Ross et al, 2011;Surkan, Kennedy, Hurley, & Black, 2011). This association most likely exists because maternal depression interferes with maternal interest in offspring and emotional quality of nurturing, which limit the offspring from reaching maximum growth capacity (Girma, Fikadu, & Abdisa, 2019). The factors that mediate such relationship between postnatal growth failure and maternal behavior are not defined by one general mechanism, but most likely driven by multiple environmental parameters that contribute to optimal maternal-offspring interactions.…”