DOI: 10.11648/j.wjph.20261103.16 ISSN: 2637-6059

A Study on the Association Between Dietary Behaviors, Sleep Quality, and Prenatal Depression During Pregnancy

Yu-zhu Pang, Meng-qi Wang, Jin Wang, Hao Feng, Guo-dian Liang, Jing-min Cheng
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Objective To explore the association among dietary behaviors, sleep quality, and prenatal depression during pregnancy, as well as the mediating effect of sleep quality between dietary behaviors and prenatal depression. Methods A total of 371 pregnant women who underwent outpatient examinations at a tertiary general hospital and a maternal and child health specialist hospital in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, from March 2024 to August 2024 were selected as study subjects. Questionnaires including the Pregnancy Dietary Behavior Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) were administered. SPSS 26.0 software was used for descriptive analysis, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analysis. Results The overall dietary behaviors of pregnant women in Taiyuan City were poor, their sleep quality was acceptable, and they experienced mild depression, with specific scores of (86.13±12.44), (6.84±3.02), and (4.63±4.54), respectively. Correlation analysis revealed that the total score and all dimension scores of the dietary behavior scale during pregnancy were positively correlated with the total score of prenatal depression ( P <0.01). Sleep quality played a mediating role between dietary behaviors during pregnancy and prenatal depression, with an effect value of 0.178, accounting for 22.82% of the total effect. Conclusion Dietary behaviors during pregnancy, sleep quality, and prenatal depression are interrelated. Sleep quality mediates the relationship between dietary behaviors and prenatal depression. Improving dietary behaviors and sleep quality during pregnancy can help reduce the risk of prenatal depression and promote maternal and infant health.

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