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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Nutrients

Chrononutrition and Prenatal Mental Health: The Relationship Between Food Intake Indicators and Prenatal Depressive Symptomatology

  • Christina M. Personette1
  • David Phan1
  • Daisy Duan2
  • Namhyun Kim3
  • Kaleab Z. Abebe4
  • Christina M. Scifres5
  • Tina Costacou3
  • Patrick M. Catalano6
  • Hyagriv Simhan7
  • Esa M. Davis8
  • Dara D. Mendez3
  • Marquis S. Hawkins1
8 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
  2. 2Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
  3. 3Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA
  4. 4Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
  5. 5Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
  6. 6Reproductive Endocrine Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
  7. 7Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
  8. 8Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
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Abstract

Objective: We examined cross-sectional associations between mid-pregnancy food intake indicators and prenatal depressive symptomatology. Methods: This secondary analysis of the Comparison of Two Screening Strategies for Gestational Diabetes (GDM2) trial (N = 716) examined five domains of mid-pregnancy food intake (direct timing, energy timing, meal/snack structure, meal energy distribution, and diet quality) derived from 24 h dietary recalls. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Generalized linear models examined associations between food intake indicators and both total and high (EPDS ≥ 13) depressive symptoms. Results: The mean (SD) EPDS score was 6.3 (4.9); a total of 12.4% (n = 89) of subjects had high depressive symptoms. Eating frequency (exp(B) = 1.084 [1.021, 1.151], p = 0.008), snack frequency (exp(B) = 1.063 [1.004, 1.126], p = 0.037), nighttime snacking frequency (exp(B) = 1.060 [1.003, 0.121], p = 0.040), and total daily energy intake (exp(B) = 1.058 [1.002, 1.118], p = 0.044) were positively associated with total depressive symptoms. Energy intake from breakfast (PR = 1.178 [1.029, 1.349], p = 0.017) was associated with higher prevalence of high depressive symptoms. Energy intake from dinner (PR = 0.809 [0.695, 0.943], p = 0.007), a later timing of the first eating episode (PR = 0.830 [0.699, 0.986], p = 0.034) and the first energy quartile (PR = 0.837 [0.702, 0.998], p = 0.048) were associated with lower prevalence of high depressive symptoms. Conclusions: These findings extend the prior chrononutrition–depression literature to the prenatal period, implicating eating frequency, energy intake, and meal energy timing and distribution in depressive symptomatology during pregnancy, and warrant further longitudinal investigation.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{personette2026chrononutrition,
  title = {{Chrononutrition and Prenatal Mental Health: The Relationship Between Food Intake Indicators and Prenatal Depressive Symptomatology}},
  author = {Christina M. Personette and David Phan and Daisy Duan and Namhyun Kim and Kaleab Z. Abebe and Christina M. Scifres and Tina Costacou and Patrick M. Catalano and Hyagriv Simhan and Esa M. Davis and Dara D. Mendez and Marquis S. Hawkins},
  journal = {Nutrients},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.3390/nu18213648},
  url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/21/3648},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Chrononutrition and Prenatal Mental Health: The Relationship Between Food Intake Indicators and Prenatal Depressive Symptomatology
AU  - Christina M. Personette
AU  - David Phan
AU  - Daisy Duan
AU  - Namhyun Kim
AU  - Kaleab Z. Abebe
AU  - Christina M. Scifres
AU  - Tina Costacou
AU  - Patrick M. Catalano
AU  - Hyagriv Simhan
AU  - Esa M. Davis
AU  - Dara D. Mendez
AU  - Marquis S. Hawkins
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/02
JO  - Nutrients
DO  - 10.3390/nu18213648
UR  - https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/21/3648
AB  - Objective: We examined cross-sectional associations between mid-pregnancy food intake indicators and prenatal depressive symptomatology. Methods: This secondary analysis of the Comparison of Two Screening Strategies for Gestational Diabetes (GDM2) trial (N = 716) examined five domains of mid-pregnancy food intake (direct timing, energy timing, meal/snack structure, meal energy distribution, and diet quality) derived from 24 h dietary recalls. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Generalized linear models examined associations between food intake indicators and both total and high (EPDS ≥ 13) depressive symptoms. Results: The mean (SD) EPDS score was 6.3 (4.9); a total of 12.4% (n = 89) of subjects had high depressive symptoms. Eating frequency (exp(B) = 1.084 [1.021, 1.151], p = 0.008), snack frequency (exp(B) = 1.063 [1.004, 1.126], p = 0.037), nighttime snacking frequency (exp(B) = 1.060 [1.003, 0.121], p = 0.040), and total daily energy intake (exp(B) = 1.058 [1.002, 1.118], p = 0.044) were positively associated with total depressive symptoms. Energy intake from breakfast (PR = 1.178 [1.029, 1.349], p = 0.017) was associated with higher prevalence of high depressive symptoms. Energy intake from dinner (PR = 0.809 [0.695, 0.943], p = 0.007), a later timing of the first eating episode (PR = 0.830 [0.699, 0.986], p = 0.034) and the first energy quartile (PR = 0.837 [0.702, 0.998], p = 0.048) were associated with lower prevalence of high depressive symptoms. Conclusions: These findings extend the prior chrononutrition–depression literature to the prenatal period, implicating eating frequency, energy intake, and meal energy timing and distribution in depressive symptomatology during pregnancy, and warrant further longitudinal investigation.
SN  - 2072-6643
ER  -