Journal Article

Third-trimester diet and prenatal depression in the MADRES cohort

Farzan, Shohreh, Yang, Tingyu, Ash, Caroline, Bastain, Theresa, Breton, Carrie, Dunton, Genevieve, Johnston, Jill, Toledo-Corral, Claudia, Maldonado, Luis E, Eckel, Sandrah P

2026

Overview

Poor dietary intake has been linked to depression during pregnancy, but little research has examined this in Hispanic populations. We examined third-trimester associations of study-derived dietary patterns with odds of prenatal depression and depressive symptoms in pregnant, low-income Hispanic women. 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. 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%). 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. •A healthy diet was associated with lower depression in Hispanic, low-income women.•Consuming vegetables, healthy oils, and fruit may protect against prenatal depression.•Data-driven dietary patterns could improve culturally tailored nutrition counseling. [Display omitted]

• Publisher: Elsevier Inc,Elsevier Limited
• Subject: Adult / cheeses / Chronic illnesses / Cohort analysis / Cohort Studies / Cytokines / Depression - epidemiology / Diet / Diet, Healthy - psychology / Dietary intake / Dietary Patterns / eating habits / Environmental risk / Epidemiology / Ethnicity / Female / Food / Food intake / Fruits / Grain / Health disparities / healthy diet / Hispanic Americans / Hispanic or Latino - psychology / Hispanic or Latino - statistics & numerical data / Humans / Hypertension / Inflammation / Los Angeles - epidemiology / Low income groups / Lower-income / Meat / Mental depression / Mental health / Oils & fats / Oxidative stress / Poverty / Preeclampsia / Pregnancy / Pregnancy Complications - epidemiology / Pregnancy Complications - psychology / Pregnancy Trimester, Third - psychology / Prenatal depression / Quartiles / Statistical analysis / Trans fats / Vegetables / Womens health / Young Adult