Abstract
ObjectiveMaternal depression may affect child feeding practice which is an important determinant of child nutritional status. The objective of this study was to explore the association between maternal depression and WHO complementary feeding indicators [minimum dietary diversity (MDD), minimum meal frequency (MMF) and minimum acceptable diet (MAD)] or stunting status of children (6–23 months) in Tamale Metropolis, Ghana. A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out involving 200 mother–child pairs randomly sampled from three communities in Tamale Metropolis, Ghana.ResultsThe prevalence of MDD, MMF, and MAD were 56.5, 65.0, and 44.0% respectively and 41.0% of the children sampled were stunted. A third of the mothers (33.5%) screened positive for depression. Maternal depression did not influence significantly MDD (p = 0.245), MMF (p = 0.442), and MAD (p = 0.885) or children’s risk of stunting (p = 0.872). In conclusion maternal depression and child stunting are prevalent in Northern Ghana but there is a lack of evidence of an association between maternal depression and child feeding practices or nutritional status in this study population. Further research is needed to assess the effect of maternal depression on feeding practices and growth of young children.
Highlights
About a third of children under five are chronically malnourished in Northern Region, Ghana [1]
We evaluated the association between maternal depression and World Health Organisation (WHO) complementary feeding indicators or nutritional status of children (6–23 months) in Tamale Metropolis, Northern Ghana
Children of mothers with and without depression had similar likelihoods of receiving the three indicators of complementary feeding—minimum meal frequency (MMF) [crude odds ratio (COR): 1.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.68–2.39], minimum dietary diversity (MDD) (COR: 0.70, 95% CI 0.39–1.27) and minimum acceptable diet (MAD) (COR: 0.96, 95% CI 0.53–1.73) (Table 3)
Summary
The mothers’ age ranged from 18 to 41 years with a mean of 27.0 (± 5.1) years and most (45.5%) were in the 26–30 years age group (Table 1). The ages of the children ranged from 6 to 23 months with a mean of 13.4 (± 5.3) months, and most were in the 12–23 months age group (59.0%), and were females (57.0%) (Table 1). With respect to the indicators of complementary feeding, 56.5, 65.0 and 44.0% of the children received MDD, MMF and MAD. The likelihood of obtaining MMF, MDD and MAD by children of depressed mothers was determined by comparing them to children of non-depressed mothers. Children of mothers with and without depression had similar likelihoods of receiving the three indicators of complementary feeding—MMF [crude odds ratio (COR): 1.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.68–2.39], MDD (COR: 0.70, 95% CI 0.39–1.27) and MAD (COR: 0.96, 95% CI 0.53–1.73) (Table 3). Children belonging to mothers with and without depression had comparable risks of stunting (Table 3)
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