By Dr. Priyom Bose, Ph.D.Jan 10 2023Reviewed by Danielle Ellis, B.Sc. In a child's life, the period from conception until two years old is crucial for growth and development. In addition to the development of vital organs and regulatory systems, this phase also determines a child's personality, mental health, and socio-emotional growth. Hence, optimal nourishment must be provided during pregnancy and the first years of a child's life.
Similar to any non-communicable disease, a child may develop depression and anxiety at an early age. Often these mental health conditions are found in children as young as 5 to 9 years of age. It has been observed that early-life nutritional deficiencies make a child susceptible to mental health conditions. Maternal diet has also been linked with mental health conditions and neurodevelopment of the offspring.
MoBa is a prospective population-based pregnancy cohort study that recruited participants from 1999 to 2008. This cohort included around 114,500 children, 95,200 mothers, and 75,200 fathers. All participants who completed the baseline questionnaire, i.e., food frequency questionnaire , around gestational week 17, were included in the study. Another inclusion criterion was that the mothers answered the given questionnaire when the child was eight.
During pregnancy, the mother's adherence to the NND was associated with lower scoring on the depression scale when the child was eight years old. However, no significant association with anxiety was observed. A healthy and sustainable maternal diet was linked with higher trait scores on conscientiousness, extraversion, benevolence, and imagination and lower scores on neuroticism.