Early-life undernutrition and depression later in life: a systematic review

Abstract

Context: Early adverse experience can have a long-term effect on growth and development and negative repercussions into adulthood. Among the various consequences of undernutrition is depression.

Objective: The present work aimed to evaluate the relationship between early-life undernutrition and depression in adult life.

Data sources: Data were obtained from the PubMed, SCOPUS, and Web of Science databases in November 2021 and were selected using the systematic bibliographic review manager program State of the Art Through Systematic Review.

Data extraction: Data were extracted using the State of the Art Through Systematic Review program.

Data analysis: Of the 559 articles that were identified, 114 were duplicates, and 426 were excluded after inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to the title and abstract. One other relevant study was included. From the 20 remaining articles, 8 were excluded after the full-text screening. Finally, 12 articles remained for review in the present work. The studies described in these articles investigated humans, rats, or mice, and correlated early-life malnutrition and depression in adulthood as the principal outcome.

Conclusions: Undernutrition in early life and later depression are linked. Furthermore, the knowledge that the risk factors for depression start at the beginning of life points to public health policies starting in intrauterine life and extending throughout childhood and adolescence.

Keywords: critical periods of development; depression; undernutrition.