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- Title
Maternal mental health is associated with children's frequency of family meals at 12 and 24 months of age.
- Authors
Helle, Christine; Hillesund, Elisabet R.; Øverby, Nina Cecilie
- Abstract
Diet during the child's first years is important for growth and development. In toddlerhood, higher diet quality is reported among children eating meals together with family. Although previous literature has documented several associations between maternal mental health and early child feeding practices, less is known about the relationship between maternal mental health and child frequency of shared family meals. This study explores associations between maternal symptoms of anxiety and depression, measured by The Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (SCL‐8), and toddler participation in family meals. We used cross‐sectional data from the Norwegian study Early Food for Future Health, in which participants responded to questionnaires at child age 12 (n = 455) and 24 months (n = 295). Logistic regression was used to explore associations between maternal mental health and child having regular (≥5 per week) or irregular (<5 per week) family meals (breakfast and dinner), adjusting for relevant child and maternal confounding variables. Children of mothers with higher scores of anxiety and depression had higher odds of Irregular family meals at both timepoints; (OR: 2.067, p = 0.015) and (OR: 2.444, p = 0.023). This is one of few studies exploring associations between maternal mental health and child frequency of shared family meals in early childhood, a period where the foundation for life‐long health is shaped. Given the high prevalence of mental ailments and disorders, these findings are important and may inform future public health interventions. Further exploration of this relation is needed, including longitudinal research to test predictive associations and qualitative studies to increase insight and understanding. Key messages: Previous literature has documented several associations between maternal mental health and early child feeding practices, but less is known regarding the relationship between maternal mental health and toddlers' frequency of shared family meals.We found that maternal symptoms of anxiety and depression was positively associated with higher odds of child having irregular family meals in the two first years.Our findings support the importance of early identification of maternal symptoms of anxiety and depression to help mothers having positive interactions around food and eating with their toddlers.Given the health benefits of the family meal as a setting for child diet and dietary behaviours, this study's results may have major implications by informing design of future public health interventions.
- Subjects
PSYCHOLOGY of mothers; CROSS-sectional method; MENTAL health; FAMILIES; PUBLIC health; QUALITATIVE research; MENTAL depression; QUESTIONNAIRES; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; LOGISTIC regression analysis; ANXIETY; ODDS ratio; DATA analysis software; MEALS; HEALTH promotion; SECONDARY analysis
- Publication
Maternal & Child Nutrition, 2024, Vol 20, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
1740-8695
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/mcn.13552