Effect of postpartum depression and role of infant feeding practices on relative weight of child at 1 and 3 years of age

Childhood obesity has increased and is considered one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century globally, and may be exacerbated by postpartum depression (PPD). The purpose of this study was to examine the association between PPD at 1st and 6th month postpartum, infant feeding practices, and body mass index (BMI) z-score of the child at one and three years of age. This study used data from an ongoing prospective maternal-child birth cohort performed at the National Center for Child Health and Development (NCCHD) in suburban Tokyo, Japan with the period of recruitment from May 13, 2010 to November 28, 2013. Out of 2,309 total number of mothers, 1,279 mother–child dyads were assessed in the study. We performed multivariable linear regression analysis to examine the association between PPD and child’s BMI z-score stratified by the child’s age at 1 year and 3 years of age. The prevalence of PPD at 1 month postpartum (17