Adherence to dietary patterns and their association with perinatal depression: a Scoping review

Perinatal depression is a common disorder that can manifest during pregnancy and the postpartum period, severely affecting both the mother and the baby. Dietary factors have been associated with an increased risk of perinatal depression. We analyzed the association between adherence to certain dietary patterns before and during pregnancy and postpartum and perinatal depression. A scoping review of the available literature was conducted reporting the main findings following the PRISMA 2020 statement. The search strategy was last reproduced in December 2024 in MEDLINE, Web of Science and Scopus databases. The methodological quality of the studies was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials. The protocol has been published on OSF (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/AV8TP). 11 studies (6 cohort studies, 4 cross-sectional studies, and 1 randomized clinical trial) conducted in various countries were included in the mapping review. These studies evaluated the dietary intake of the participants at different times during the perinatal period and identified several dietary patterns. 9/11 studies showed a significant inverse association between adherence to the Mediterranean Diet or healthy patterns, characterized by high intake of vegetables, fruits, fish and seafood and perinatal depression. In contrast, 4/11 studies showed that adherence to Western dietary patterns and the consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with higher risk of perinatal depression. Adherence to healthy dietary patterns may be negatively associated with perinatal depression. Conversely, Western diet and the intake of ultra-processed and pro-inflammatory foods are directly associated with a higher risk of perinatal depression.