Impact of household food insecurity on maternal mental health in Egypt

Abstract

Background: Food insecurity leads to disturbed eating patterns, hunger or poor nutrition and is strongly correlated with poor mental health. Aims: To determine the impact of household food insecurity on maternal mental health in a rural population in Egypt. Methods: This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Qulubba Village in Minia Governorate. We interviewed 497 mothers with at least one child, using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale and Hopkins Symptom Check List-25. Results: Nearly 70% of women resided in food-insecure households. Symptoms of anxiety and depression were significantly more common among food-insecure mothers. By logistic regression analysis, household food insecurity, socioeconomic status, husband working abroad and number of children were significant predictors of maternal distress. Mothers with severe food insecurity were approximately 13 times more likely to experience mental distress than were food secure-mothers. Conclusions: Household food insecurity was associated with an increased likelihood of poor maternal mental health. The study highlights the need for policies to decrease poverty and programmes for screening and addressing food insecurity. Integrating mental health into programmes addressing food insecurity and providing counselling are recommended.

Household Food Insecurity in Lebanon and Its Impact On Maternal Mental Health, Coping Mechanisms, and Children’s Malnutrition. (c2022)

“…Consistent with previous studies, a strong positive correlation was detected between household food insecurity and maternal depression. A cross sectional study that targeted 497 women found that depressive symptoms were more common in food insecure mothers and that household food insecurity is a significant predictor of distress in mothers (Mahfouz et al, 2021). This research results were also aligned with Pourmotabbed et al's 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis of 19 studies, that showed an increased risk of depression among maternal caregivers who happen to reside in food insecure households.…”

“…Lastly, Hadley and Patil (2006) proposed that with females usually being the caretakers of the children, the occurrence of anxiety or depression may be related to child care practices as well.. Most recently, a cross sectional study examining the link between maternal mental health and HFI in Egypt, found that symptoms of anxiety and depression were more significantly pronounced among food insecure mothers, with severely food insecure ones 13 times more likely to suffer from mental distress compared to their food secure counterparts (Mahfouz, Mohammed, Alkilany, and Abdel Rahman, 2021). Whether mothers tending to their children's health and nutritional needs in Lebanon suffer from mental health disturbances such as depression is still in question.…”

Food Insecurity among Syrian Pregnant Women: a cross- sectional study

“…The prevalence of food insecurity in pregnant women in Syria exceeded that observed in other national studies carried out with women in the region: a whopping 73% compared to 32% in Jordan, 48% in Iran, 50% in Lebanon, and 69.6% in Egypt. [11][12][13] [14] It is also important to highlight that food insecurity is categorized according to the Household Food Security Survey into low and very low security. Their prevalence is 30.4% and 42.6%, respectively.…”

Low husband involvement in maternal and child health services and intimate partner violence increases the odds of postpartum depression in northwest Ethiopia: A community-based study

“…This might be due to women with low socioeconomic status may face difficulties to fulfill their needs and newborns during the postpartum period. Low socioeconomic status has been connected with a high rate of different mental health problems [ 51 , 52 ].…”