Maternal and neonatal anthropometry.
Anthropometric measurements were assessed in 434 Brazilian mother-baby pairs (263 appropriate-for-gestational-age [AGA] and 171 intrauterine growth-retarded [IUGR]) to compare their distribution and to evaluate associations in AGA and IUGR pairs. Mothers who delivered IUGR babies were thinner and shorter than mothers of AGA babies; the cut-off points of risk for delivering an IUGR baby were 50 kg for weight (OR = 3.8, p < 0.001) and 150 cm for height (OR = 3.6, p < 0.001). IUGR mothers also tended to gain less weight in pregnancy than AGA mothers, presenting a risk 6.1 times higher for weight gain < or = 7 kg (p < 0.001). There were weak though statistically significant correlations between AGA mother-baby pairs, and a few weak correlations between IUGR mother-baby pairs. The larger number of statistically significant correlations between anthropometric measurements in AGA mother-baby pairs than in IUGR pairs shows that in this region of the country, where maternal malnutrition has a low prevalence, probably other factors are associated with IUGR. It seems that the influence of maternal nutrition on a baby's size at birth is more important in populations with moderate-to-severe malnutrition. In Brazil, as in some other developing countries, overweight is becoming an important issue and the prevalence of malnutrition has decreased. In this study, there were few mothers (n = 17) with a body mass index (BMI) < or = 20. On the other hand, there were many (n = 209) overweight (BMI 25-30) and obese (BMI > 30) mothers. We advise further large epidemiological studies to assess the diet of pregnant women and its relationship to maternal weight, weight gain and low birthweight (particularly IUGR) in countries with a considerable prevalence of maternal undernutrition and maternal overweight/obesity.
Rondó
P H
PH
Nutrition Department, Public Health School, University of São Paulo, Brazil. phcrondo@usp.br
Tomkins
A M
AM
D000886:Anthropometry; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002508:Cephalometry; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012885:Skinfold Thickness