Saúde mental materna e estado nutricional de crianças aos seis meses de vida

Abstract

Despite the decline of nutritional deficits in children under five years in the last decades, infant malnutrition remains a public health problem, with high prevalence in some regions of Brazil and other developing countries and numerous adverse effects on morbidity and mortality. Maternal mental health (MMH) is being increasingly considered a relevant aspect in the context of child health. Nevertheless, little focus has been given to the MMH impact on nutritional status. To investigate the association between maternal mental health and child nutritional status at six months of life. A cross-sectional study inserted in a prospective cohort was conducted with 235 children at six months of age recruited in primary health care centers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. To form the outcomes, means of weight-for-length and weight-for-age were expressed in z scores using the new WHO growth standards (2006) for children under five years of age. The Portuguese version of the General Health Questionnaire with 12 items and four answer options (GHQ-12) was applied to measure MMH. Two scoring systems were used to create discrete variables: GHQ-bimodal score (zero to 12 points) and GHQ-Likert score (zero to 36 points). Using the GHQ-bimodal score a cut-off point of >3 was used for the detection of common mental disorders (CMD), a cut-off of >5 for more severe mental disorders, and a cut-off of >9 for depressive symptoms. Analysis of association between MMH and nutritional outcomes was based on linear regression models. The sample showed average z scores of 0.23 for weight-for-length and 0.05 for weight-for-age. The prevalence of CMD, more severe mental disorders and depression was 39.9%, 23.7% and 8.3%, respectively. After adjusting for birth weight, higher scores of GHQ-bimodal and GHQ-Likert were associated with lower mean z scores of weight-for-length. For this outcome, children of women with more severe mental disorders had, on average, 0.37 z-scores lower when compared to children of women without these disorders (p = 0.026). Also, children of women with depressive symptoms had, on average, 0.67 z-scores lower than those from non-depressive mothers (p = 0.010). Only maternal depressive symptoms showed significantly association with lower weight-for-age (p = 0,041). There was no statistically significant association between TMC and both nutritional outcomes. MMH was related to inadequate nutritional status of children at six months of age. Early recognition and treatment of mental health problems in the postpartum period might be an adjuvant strategy to improve child nutritional status and ultimately reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with nutritional deficits.