No abstract

Background Maternal postpartum depression (PPD) could affect children's emotional development, increasing later risk of child psychological problems. The aim of our study was to assess the association between child's emotional and behavioural problems and mother's PPD, considering maternal current mental health problems (CMP). Methods This is a secondary analysis from the EU-Childhood Obesity Project (NCT00338689). Women completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at, 2, 3 and 6 months after delivery and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to assess CMP once the children reached the age of 8 years. EPDS scores > 10 were defined as PPD and GHQ-12 scores > 2 were defined as CMP. The psychological problems of the children at the age of eight were collected by mothers through the Child's Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). Results 473, 474 and 459 mothers filled in GHQ-12 and CBCL tests at 8 years and EPDS at 2, 3 and 6 months, respectively. Anxiety and depression was significantly increased by maternal EPDS. Children whose mothers had both PPD and CMP exhibited the highest levels of psychological problems, followed by those whose mothers who had only CMP and only PPD. PPD and CMP had a significant effect on child's total psychological problems (p = 0.033, p < 0.001, respectively). Children whose mothers had PPD did not differ from children whose mothers did not have any depression. Conclusions Maternal postpartum depression and current mental health problems, separately and synergistically, increase children's psychological problems at 8 years.

Background: Constipation is a common disorder in children. Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the beneficial effects of a daily supplementation with Orafti V R inulin-type fructans in 2-5 year old constipated children. Methods: Double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled parallel group trial where constipated children received two doses of 2 g Orafti V R inulin-type fructans (OF:IN) or placebo (maltodextrin) for 6 weeks. Primary outcome was stool consistency. Secondary outcomes were stool frequency and gastrointestinal symptoms. Results: Twenty-two children were included, 17 completed the study protocol (nine and eight for the control and the OF:IN group, respectively). Results showed that Orafti V R inulin-type fructans supplemented children had softer stools (p ¼ .003). The longitudinal analysis showed no significant changes in controls, whereas supplemented children increased their stool consistency from 2.2 to 2.6 on the modified Bristol scale for children (five items instead of seven) (p ¼ .040). Conclusions: Prebiotic inulin-type fructans supplementation improves stool consistency in constipated 2-5-year old children.