Peer-reviewed article
Maternal Mental Health and Sociodemographic Determinants of Child Nutrition Under Five Years
Lal Singh Karki ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001A cross-sectional study in Nepal examined the relationship between maternal mental health and child nutrition in children under five years old. Researchers surveyed 203 mothers and found high rates of child malnutrition: over 50% stunted, 7% underweight, and 5% wasted. Nearly 40% of mothers had common mental disorders. The study found that maternal mental health, along with socioeconomic factors and ethnicity, were associated with child nutritional status. The researchers recommend targeting social determinants and screening for maternal mental health as part of efforts to reduce undernutrition.
Key points
- Over 50% of children under five were stunted, 7% underweight, and 5% wasted
- Nearly 40% of mothers had common mental disorders
- Stunting was associated with ethnicity and socioeconomic factors
- Low birth weight was the main factor associated with child wasting
- Maternal mental health was identified as the most influential psycho-social factor in child nutrition
Limitations
As a cross-sectional study, this work can only show associations between maternal mental health and child nutrition, not causation. The study is limited to one municipality in Nepal and may not be representative of other regions.
Abstract
The study was conducted in Lamkichuha Municipality, Kailali District, Nepal. The main objective of this study was to examine the relationship between maternal mental health and sociodemographic determinants of child nutrition under five in the study area. This study used a cross-sectional design to collect data from 203 mothers and their children under five years. The collected data were analyzed in descriptive and inferential phases. The children surveyed had a high rate of malnutrition, with over 50 percent of children were stunted, 7 percent were underweighted, and 5 percent were wasted, respectively. Nearly 40 percent of the mothers were noted to have common mental disorders, and in the inferential analysis, there were stunting associations with ethnicity and other socioeconomic factors. Low birth weight was the main factor that led to wasting. Thus, the findings highlight the important socio-economic and psycho-social factors, with maternal mental health as the most influential one in the nutrition of children. Along with child nutrition programs, the study also suggests the use of strategies that target the root causes of social determinants to be able to effectively reduce undernutrition in rural and semi-urban areas. One such intervention could be the implementation of routine maternal mental health screening.