A growing body of literature identifies food insecurity (FI) as a critical social determinant of mental health. Across settings, quantitative studies report positive correlations between FI and mental distress, especially among women. Less understood are the pathways by which FI undermines women's mental well-being. To address this gap, we conducted six focus group discussions with 45 Nicaraguan mothers. Thematic analysis identified three themes linking the management of FI and maternal mental well-being in this setting. The theme, la lucha, underscored how the chronicity of FI served as a constant mental strain by demanding mothers strategize on a daily basis to resolve it. The themes "tranquility is a child with a full belly" and "the despairing and frustrated mother" emphasized how FI challenged women's abilities to fulfill the responsibilities of motherhood and served as a reminder of social status. Our findings advance earlier quantitative work by identifying how the management of food insecurity undermines maternal mental well-being in a low-middle income setting and indicate that policies aimed at combating food insecurity can concomitantly improve maternal mental well-being if they bolster women's agency and work to reduce the stigma associated with being food insecure.

中文翻译：

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宁静的孩子饱满的肚子：尼加拉瓜的粮食不安全感与母亲精神困扰的联系。

越来越多的文献将粮食不安全（FI）确定为精神健康的重要社会决定因素。在各种情况下，定量研究报告了FI和精神困扰之间的正相关性，尤其是女性之间。金融中介机构损害妇女心理健康的途径鲜为人知。为了解决这一差距，我们与45位尼加拉瓜母亲进行了六次焦点小组讨论。主题分析确定了在此背景下将FI的管理与孕产妇心理健康联系起来的三个主题。主题为“ la lucha”，强调了FI的长期性如何通过要求母亲每天制定战略来解决这一问题，从而长期困扰着他们。“宁静是一个饱腹的孩子”和“绝望而沮丧的母亲”的主题强调了FI如何挑战女性 履行母性责任的能力，并提醒人们社会地位。我们的发现通过确定粮食不安全的管理如何在中低收入环境中破坏孕产妇的心理健康，并推动了早期的定量工作，并表明旨在打击粮食不安全的政策如果能够增强妇女的能力并同时改善孕产妇的心理健康，就可以提高产妇的心理健康水平。努力减少与粮食不安全有关的污名。