Maternal anthropometry and infant feeding practices in Israel in relation to growth in infancy: the North African Infant Feeding Study.
Relations between maternal anthropometric status during pregnancy and infant feeding practices and growth from birth through the first 6 mo of life were examined in a cohort of 351 Israeli mother-infant pairs of North African descent. Maternal weight, height, and triceps skinfold thicknesses were determined at 6 and 9 mo of pregnancy, while infants' weights and lengths were measured at birth and at 1, 2, 3, and 6 mo of age with concurrent collection of age-specific maternal-reported infant feeding data. On the basis of multiple-linear-regression analysis that adjusted for potential covariates, mean maternal weight at the first prenatal visit and at 6 and 9 mo of pregnancy were positively associated with birth length (P for trend in all cases < 0.0001) and with linear growth between birth and 1, 3, and 6 mo of age. Maternal skinfold thickness at 9 mo of pregnancy and maternal height were also significantly associated with birth length. Moreover, maternal height, weight, and skinfold thickness at 6 and 9 mo of pregnancy were positively associated with mean birth weight. After adjustment for morbidity in the past month and other covariates, infants breast-fed exclusively had greater attained weight and weight gain in the first 3 mo compared with infants who were bottle-fed exclusively, breast-fed and bottle-fed, or solid-fed exclusively. These findings underscore the need for programs that improve the nutritional status of women before, during, and after pregnancy, and encourage exclusive breast-feeding of infants for at least the first 3 mo of life.
Fawzi
W W
WW
Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Forman
M R
MR
Levy
A
A
Graubard
B I
BI
Naggan
L
L
Berendes
H W
HW
D000352:Africa, Northern / Q000208:ethnology; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000886:Anthropometry; D001724:Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food / Q000592:standards; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007229:Infant Welfare; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007557:Israel; D016014:Linear Models; D009017:Morbidity; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology