The mental health problems might have been increased owing to the COVID-19 pandemic with the commencement of the year 2020, therefore, an epidemiological survey appraising the burden of mental health issues among the general population is imperative. This cross-sectional study attempts to reveal the underlying mental health conditions, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS), depression, and insomnia, relating to the pandemic situation, and to further examine the combined effects of gender and age on the COVID-19 related mental health consequences. An online survey was conducted among 2,992 adults in China from February 1st 2020 to February 10th 2020. The study uses binary logistic regression to analyze the potential factors associated with PTSD, depression, and insomnia. The results indicate that the prevalence of PTSS, depression, and insomnia are 19.5, 26.9, and 19.6% respectively during the COVID-19. Men and women show different rates of PTSS and depression, whereas no insomnia is found in both males and females. The females above 50 years of age have a lower level of depressive symptoms (OR = 0.448, 95%CI: 0.220–0.911, Cohen's d = −0.443) as compared with females aged 18–25; while the highest effect sizes for PTSS (OR = 2.846, 95%CI: 1.725–4.695, Cohen's d = 0.537) and the depression (OR = 2.024, 95%CI: 1.317–3.111, Cohen's d = 0.314) are seen in males aged 26 to 30. Besides gender, education, living conditions, direct exposure to COVID-19, the post mental and the physical health condition is related to PTSS, depression, and insomnia. Our study suggests that high-risk groups, especially those having two or more related factors and young men, should be the focus of mental health intervention.

Although water insecurity has been discussed in general, its impacts on mothers’ physical and mental health, and infants’ and young children’s feeding (IYCF), has largely been ignored. This study explores household water insecurity experiences and their association with optimal health and nutrition of women and children in the Rajanpur district of Punjab Province. Using focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informants (KIIs) interviews from an area with high maternal-child malnutrition prevalence, a qualitative study was conducted to describe local experiences of water acquirement and arrangement, and of the consequences of water insecurity. The findings highlight that rural Western marginalized populations of the Rajanpur district rely on brackish, canal, or flood surface water as the water supply is absent, which intensifies mothers’ work burden and stress, and often makes them victims of violence, stigma, and sickness. Water fetching impacts women in unforeseen ways, impacting the psychosocial and physical health of mothers engaged in maternal breastfeeding. Water insecurity, originally rooted in regional disparities, compounds with gender inequities, which leads to maternal stress and child sickness. Justice in water resources is imperative and urgent in the deprived South of Punjab province for improving public health nutrition.

Maternal nutritional awareness might reduce the risk of malnutrition in children. This study assesses the impact of mothers' nutritional and health awareness (MNHA) on the nutritional status of pre-school children in rural South Punjab. Using a proportionate purposive simple random sampling technique we collect data with the help of a self-administered questionnaire on height, age, the weight of children, and socio-economic profile from 384 rural households in one of the marginalized districts of Punjab. The study applied the binary logistic regression model to compute the probability of malnutrition. The results indicate that malnutrition was high in the district (the prevalence rate for underweight is 46.1%, for stunting 34.83%, and for wasting is 15.49%). Around 91.84% of malnourished children belonged to the low MNHA category compared to medium (5.61%) and high (2.55%) MNHA categories. The results further show that the prevalence of moderate and severe stunting, wasting, and underweight in low MNHA categories was much higher with large differences compared to both medium and high MNHA categories. The binary logistic regression results depict that, across the household deprivation index (HDS), the odds of a child becoming malnourished were lower in households HDS-2 category (OR = 0.02, 95% CI: 0.01–0.89), and odds were also lower in households HDS-3 category (OR = 0.001, 95% CI: 0.001–0.16). Similarly, across the scores of MNHA index, the odds of malnutrition were lower among the children of those mothers who had medium MNHA (OR = 0.04, 95% CI: 0.002–1.24), and also the probability of child malnutrition was lower among the children of mothers who had high MNHA (OR = 0.008, 95% CI: 0.002–0.29). The study urges that well-resourced, targeted, and coordinated health and nutritional education and awareness programs are required to tackle malnutrition.

Background: Although several studies have shown an association of family care with a high level of depressive symptoms, the relationship between them remains indistinguishable.Objective: This study aims to examine the associations between family care, economic stress, and depressive symptoms among Chinese adults in urban and rural areas during the COVID-19 outbreak.Methods: Based on cross-sectional data collected through online surveys from February 1st to 10th 2020 in China the present study recruited 2,858 adults. It used multiple linear regression to examine the association between family care and depressive symptoms, while economic stress was examined as moderators on the above relationship.Results: The results showed that caring for both the elderly and children was significantly associated with higher depressive symptoms compared with non-caregivers (B = 2.584, 95%CI: 1.254, 3.915), and a similar result was also found in urban areas. Also, caring for the elderly only was also had a higher level of depressive symptoms than non-caregivers in rural areas (B = 3.135, 95%CI: 0.745, 5.525). Meeting the care needs was significantly associated with lower depressive symptoms compared with unmet care needs, while for rural caregivers, the results were not significant. Besides, economic stress strengthened the effect of family care needs on depressive symptoms for sandwich-generation caregivers who provide care to both the elderly and children (B = 0.605, 95%CI: 0.077, 1.134). While in rural areas, the moderation effects of economic stress were only found for elderly caregivers (B = 1.106, 95%CI: 0.178, 2.035).Conclusion: These findings suggest that we should pay more attention to the family caregiver's mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, more effective policies should be developed to provide financial support for family caregivers, especially for sandwich-generation caregivers and rural elderly caregivers.

Better socioeconomic status and well-being in households decrease malnutrition and health risks in children. The objective of the present study is to assess the current nutritional status of pre-school children and to correlate the prevalence of malnutrition with Household Deprivation Status (HDS) in one of the deprived districts of the Punjab province in Pakistan. Using primary data collected from 384 households through a proportional purposive random sampling technique, this study calculates the z-scores of weight-for-age (WAZ), weight-for-height (WHZ), and height-for-age (HAZ). The study has used a cut-off point which is -2 standard deviations below the median of the WHO/NCHS reference population for each anthropometric indicator. The results indicate that the underweight, stunting, and wasting prevalence rates are 46.1%, 34.83%, and 15.49% respectively in district Rahimyar Khan. Also, the expected tendency of malnutrition is worst for HDS-1 and HDS-2 which are the most deprived segments of the population. As the household shifts from HDS-1 to HDS-2 and further to HDS-3, the rates of stunting (HAZ) and underweight (WAZ) decreases but wasting (WHZ) does not. The study concludes that the high prevalence of malnutrition in the district is correlated with overall socio-economic deprivation.