Third-trimester diet and prenatal depression in the MADRES cohort

BACKGROUND: Poor dietary intake has been linked to depression during pregnancy, but little research has examined this in Hispanic populations. OBJECTIVE: We examined third-trimester associations of study-derived dietary patterns with odds of prenatal depression and depressive symptoms in pregnant, low-income Hispanic women. METHODS: Participants (N = 587) were drawn from the Maternal and Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors (MADRES) cohort in Los Angeles, CA. Diet was assessed using a 24-h recall tool. Women were assigned quartile rankings based on adherence to two previously derived dietary patterns: vegetables, oils, and fruit (VOF; healthier) and solid fats, refined grains, and cheese (SRC; less healthy). Depressive symptoms were defined using the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale score, and a dichotomized depression outcome was defined as Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale scores ≥16. RESULTS: Eighteen percent of participants were classified as depressed at the third-trimester visit. Women with the greatest adherence to the healthier dietary pattern (VOF) had 59% lower odds of depression (OR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.19, 0.86) relative to women with the lowest adherence to this dietary pattern, after adjustment for covariates. Additionally, women with moderately high (third quartile) adherence to the VOF dietary pattern had 16.9% lower depressive symptoms (95% CI: -30.5%, -0.8%) compared with women with the lowest VOF adherence. Women with the highest VOF adherence had similar, non-statistically significant lower depressive symptoms (Beta = -10.4%, 95% CI: -25.7%, 8.1%). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that there are important relationships between a healthy diet and lower depression in late pregnancy, and suggest that nutritional counseling and improved neighborhood access to healthy food may be important for maternal mental health.