An evaluation of infants' growth in the Kingdom of Nepal.
BACKGROUND
The His Majesty's Government/Japan International Cooperation Agency Primary Health Care Project began in April 1993 in collaboration with the Saitama Prefectural Government, for the purpose of improving the health status of the people in model districts of the Kingdom of Nepal. Growth monitoring is one of the basic methods that defines the health and nutritional status of children.


METHODS
Anthropometric indices were measured in 759 children in the Bhaktapur district. We used the World Health Organization prototype growth chart and national growth standard for Japanese children (1990) to analyze the growth data.


RESULTS
We found that the average bodyweight growth curve of children up to 4 months of age followed the 50th percentile reference curve. For children of 5-12 months of age, there was a delay in bodyweight gain and the growth curve reached the 3rd percentile curve. For children more than 1 year old, the growth curve moved below the third percentile curve. Catch-up growth did not occur before the children reached 5 years of age. The main causes of catch-up growth being hampered were chronic undernutrition and inadequate nutritional balance.


CONCLUSIONS
As this was the first opportunity to evaluate infant growth in this district, the first important consequence of the results was to analyze the causes of growth faltering and failure-to-thrive in Nepalese children. Even more important, was the need to give appropriate counseling on improving feeding and other health-related practices, and the most important consequence of all was to instruct Nepalese health workers that utilizing the growth charts is an integral part of health care.
Hosono
S
S
Saitama Children's Medical Center, Japan. hosonos@rb3.so-net.ne.jp
Okazaki
M
M
Kagimoto
S
S
Ogawa
K
K
Matunaga
K
K
Oishi
T
T
Ohno
T
T
Yamaguchi
S
S
Joh
K
K
Akashi
S
S
Yamamoto
K
K
Kohno
S
S
Honma
T
T
Shakya
K N
KN
D000886:Anthropometry; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009390:Nepal