Postpartum depressive symptoms and infant weight outcomes: Do well-child visits make a difference?

Background: Maternal postpartum depression affects 10% to 20% of new mothers, but little research has examined its relationship with weight outcomes during infancy and whether clinical interventions can mitigate this relationship. This study investigated the associations of postpartum depressive symptoms with infants’ weight-for-length z-scores, obesity, and overweight at 9 months of age; and whether the number of well-child visits moderated these associations.

Methods: We used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), a nationally representative sample of approximately 10,700 children born in the U.S. in 2001.

Results: At 9 months postpartum, 6% of the mothers were considered severely depressed, and 16% either moderately or severely depressed, on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Approximately 15% of the children were obese and 29% were overweight (at or above the 95^th or 85^th percentiles for weight and length, respectively). Higher maternal depression scores were associated with lower odds of obesity (OR= 0.997, 95% CI: 0.970 - 0.994) and overweight (OR= 0.990, 95% CI: 0.981 - 0.999) among their infants, and higher numbers of well-child-visits were associated with even lower odds of child overweight among mothers with higher depression scores (OR= 0.996, 95% CI: 0.993 - 0.999). Depressive scores had no associations with infants’ continuous weight-for-length z-scores.

Conclusions: While the causal directions and mechanisms remain unclear, findings suggest that well-child visits may provide an opportunity to address mothers’ depressive symptoms and promote healthy eating and physical activity habits among their children.