Pregnant women who have limited access to healthy, nutritious and affordable food are up to four times more likely to have poor mental health, including anxiety and depression, new research shows.

In the study, researchers found that women who were pregnant and experiencing a lack of access to good quality food, known as ‘food insecurity’, were at increased risk of high-stress levels, mood disorders, and mental health issues.

They were also at significantly increased risk of gestational diabetes, and poor dental health.

The findings are published this week in the journal PLOS Medicine.

The work builds on a study published in Obesity earlier in the year by the same research group, including researchers from the University of Newcastle and King’s College London, which found that food insecurity during pregnancy was associated with an increase in obesity risk, with implications for pregnancy outcome and health implications for both mother and baby later in life.

Food insecurity is a significant public health issue in high-income countries.

Anxiety about accessing food can lead to skipping meals or not eating all day. In the UK, food insecurity has risen dramatically in the last few years.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, fewer than one in 10 families in the UK with two children was affected, but today, it is estimated that one in four households with babies and young children under four years old are affected.

Women are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity during pregnancy when there is an additional nutritional demand and often additional financial pressures.

In the most recent study, the researchers conducted a randomised meta-analysis of the findings of studies reporting associations between food insecurity in pregnancy and maternal and infant health in high-income countries.

Of the 24,223 identified studies, 25 were suitable for meta-analysis, which enabled the researchers to explore the links between food insecurity and pregnancy health for mothers and birth outcomes for babies in high-income countries since the global financial crisis in 2008 and determine any associated risks.

Pregnant women who experienced food insecurity were more likely to have high-stress levels, increased mood disorders, and were also more likely to experience anxiety and depression.

The odds of being diagnosed with depression were between 3.68 and 4.42 times higher for pregnant women experiencing food insecurity.

In addition, women with a poor diet during pregnancy are 64 times more likely to get GDM and have poor dental health compared with food-secure women.

Professor Nicola Heslehurst from Newcastle University, who led the research, said: ‘When pregnant women experience food insecurity, it affects the quality of their diet because they can’t afford increasingly expensive items such as fruit and vegetables, therefore, have to rely on cheaper, poor nutritional quality foods.

‘While we were expecting to see some health risks during pregnancy, the extent of those we found were quite shocking, especially for mental health, obesity, and pregnancy diabetes.’

The researchers also found that food insecurity had long-term implications, with mothers and their children being more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life.

Most of the studies included in the reviews were from North America. Further research is needed to assess the effects of food insecurity during pregnancy in the UK.

However, the researchers said that ‘much more financial support’ from the government was required to ensure that women and babies are protected from food insecurity during pregnancy.

Dr Zoë Bell, research associate at King’s College London and joint-first author of both review studies, said: ‘Our reviews add new evidence that food insecurity contributes to inequalities in pregnancy risks for women and babies, putting women’s health at risk, and babies at a health disadvantage from before they are born.

‘There is an urgent need for more support to mitigate against these health risks during pregnancy.’

This article first appeared on our sister site Nursing in Practice.