Association between maternal depression and child nutritional status: A cross-sectional study of adolescent mothers and their children in Ghana

Background: Childhood malnutrition is a major global public health issue, contributing to half of all deaths in children under five years of age. Adolescent mothers face social, biological, and economic challenges that increase their risk for depression. While maternal depression may impact child growth, limited studies have examined this association among adolescent mothers and their children. This study examined the association between maternal depression and child growth status indicators among adolescent mothers and their children in Ghana. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from June to November 2022 among 203 adolescent mother-child pairs (mothers aged 12-19, children aged <5) in Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana. We collected socio-demographic information and assessed maternal depressive symptoms, using validated tools. Child weight and height were measured and converted to z-scores using the WHO Anthro software and classified as stunted, underweight or wasted if height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ) or weight-for-height (WHZ) z-scores were < -2SD, respectively. Multiple linear and logistic regression were used to test the association between depressive symptom scores and child growth indicators, adjusting for covariates. Results: The mean (±SD) age of mothers and their children was 17.8 ±1.1 years and 11.1 ±9.6 months, respectively. Nearly half (47.8%) of mothers reported depressive symptoms. Nearly one in four (24.1%) children were stunted, 17.7% were underweight and 8.9% were wasted. There were no significant associations between maternal depressive symptom scores and continuous (HAZ, WAZ, WHZ) and binary (stunting, underweight, and wasting) child growth indicators. Conclusion: Although no significant associations were observed between maternal depressive symptoms and child growth indicators, future research should investigate the determinants of depressive symptoms among adolescent mothers given the high prevalence observed. Studies should investigate other factors influencing child growth in this population, considering the lack of direct association with maternal depressive symptoms.