Effect of deprivation on weight gain in infancy.
Weights were retrieved from child health records for an annual cohort of 3418 children, aged 18-30 months, to explore the relationship between deprivation and weight gain. Their level of deprivation was classified, using census data for their area of residence, as affluent (11%), intermediate (69%) or deprived (20%). Children from deprived areas were smaller at all ages with a widening gap: by one year of age, they were three times as likely as affluent children to be below the third centile for weight. The thrive index, a measure of the degree of centile shift, showed a slight gain over the first year in affluent and intermediate children, while in deprived children it decreased (p = 0.001). Deprived children were 2.2 times more likely than intermediate children to have failure to thrive, as manifest by subnormal thrive index values (p = 0.00008). Unexpectedly, children from affluent areas also showed slightly increased rates. We suggest that this may be explained by higher rates of breast feeding in affluent areas.
Wright
C M
CM
Department of Child Health, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Waterston
A
A
Aynsley-Green
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A
D002675:Child, Preschool; D004739:England; D005183:Failure to Thrive / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D011203:Poverty; D015430:Weight Gain