Mental distress and food insecurity in pregnancy

Abstract

Food insecurity is a source of daily stress, especially in women. The aim was to investigate the association between mental distress and food insecurity in pregnant women. Cross-sectional study with pregnant women from the public health service, regardless risk stratification, or gestational trimester in Colombo-PR, Brazil. Poisson regression models were progressively adjusted for exposure variables. Results: Among the participating pregnant women (N=513) the prevalence of mental distress was 50.1%; associated with mild food insecurity (PR 1.34, 95%CI 1.12; 1.61) and moderate/severe food insecurity (PR 1.70, 95%CI 1.33; 2.19). The variable that most changed the association between the outcome and mild food insecurity was income (-4.48%) and, for moderate/severe food insecurity, education (-7.60%). For mild and moderate/severe food insecurity, the greatest reduction occurred with socioeconomic variables 4.5% (PR 1.27, 95%CI 1.05; 1.53) and 8.0% (PR 1.50, 95% CI 1.17; 1.93), respectively. The association between food insecurity and mental distress was consistent, and increased with the degree of food insecurity, with a greater reduction for socioeconomic variables.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Food Insecurity among Pregnant Women in an Important City of the Amazon Region: A Study of the Years 2021 and 2022

“…Failure to do so may precipitate a maternal–fetal conflict, compromising essential nutrients crucial for fetal development and maternal well-being [ 11 ]. Due to all the facts exposed here, FI experienced during pregnancy represents a public health problem that negatively affects maternal health, impacting mental health (with higher risks of stress, anxiety, and depression) [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]; nutritional health (increasing risks of anemia, as well as other complications such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension) [ 16 , 17 , 18 ], which can present changes extending into the postnatal period [ 19 ]. Consequently, fetal and infant health may be affected, resulting in issues such as low birth weight, prematurity, congenital malformations, and developmental delays [ 12 ].…”