Institute for Life Course Health Research, Department of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, Cape Town, 7505, South Africa.
Perinatal Mental Health Project, Alan J. Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, 7700, South Africa.
Matern Child Health J. 2020 Apr;24(4):401-404. doi: 10.1007/s10995-019-02872-8.
Food security is a prerequisite for achieving optimal health, and mothers and children living in food insecure households face barriers to physical and mental health and healthy development. Mothers in food insecure households often also experience poor mental health and domestic violence. Although associations between these domains have been explored, little research exists about the intersection of these three phenomena.
In this commentary, we briefly identify existing, relevant research that investigates the relationships between and among food insecurity, maternal mental health, and domestic violence.
A substantial body of evidence from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies has demonstrated significant relationships and pathways between these co-morbidities, with bi-directional associations between food insecurity and poor mental health, domestic violence and poor mental health, and cumulative risks attributed to more severe symptoms and exposures. However, there is limited evidence about interventions that target these three areas concurrently. More specifically, there are few sustained, multi-disciplinary efforts that tackle these issues in a broad, cross-cutting way.
In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, we suggest the adoption of an interdisciplinary approach to address more effectively the needs of the most vulnerable mothers who rest at the intersection of these issues. We identify three avenues for further research efforts.
粮食安全是实现最佳健康的前提，生活在粮食不安全家庭中的母亲和儿童在身心健康和健康发展方面面临障碍。粮食不安全家庭中的母亲往往也经历着较差的心理健康和家庭暴力。尽管已经探讨了这些领域之间的关联，但关于这三种现象相互交叉的研究很少。
在这篇评论中，我们简要地确定了现有的、相关的研究，这些研究调查了粮食不安全、产妇心理健康和家庭暴力之间的关系和相互关系。
大量来自横断面和纵向研究的证据表明，这些共病之间存在显著的关系和途径，粮食不安全和心理健康不良、家庭暴力和心理健康不良之间存在双向关联，以及归因于更严重症状和暴露的累积风险。然而，关于针对这三个领域的干预措施的证据有限。更具体地说，很少有持续的、多学科的努力以广泛的、跨领域的方式解决这些问题。
我们建议采用跨学科的方法，以更有效地满足处于这些问题交叉点的最脆弱母亲的需求，这与可持续发展目标一致。我们确定了进一步研究工作的三个途径。
