Social variations in infant growth performance in Severodvinsk, Northwest Russia: Community-based cohort study (original) (raw)

Abstract

To examine infant growth characteristics and their socio-demographic determinants in Severodvinsk, northwest Russia. Methods. Length-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-length Z-scores of 1,067 infants born in 1999-2000 in Severodvinsk were calculated on the basis of the data on the length and weight obtained from the medical files. Multiple linear regression was used to estimate independent effects of maternal age, education, occupation, marital status, weight, parity, sex of the baby, and breastfeeding duration on infant growth. Results. At the age of 12 months, 1.1% of the infants were stunted, 1.1% underweight, and 0.5% wasted in comparison with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2000 reference population. The mean Z-scores for length-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-length were 0.48±0.93, 0.38±1.04, and 0.65±1.03, respectively. Mean weight-forlength Z-scores considerably increased from birth to 12 months, while length-for-age Z-score remained largely unchanged. In regression analysis, length-for-age Z-scores were lower by 0.43 (p=0.028) and by 0.30 (p<0.001) in infants born to mothers with basic and unknown education, respectively. Positive trends between linear growth and maternal age (p=0.027) and education (p=0.024) were observed. No social variations in weight-for-length Z-scores were found. Conclusion. Prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting were lower than previously reported from Russia, which may reflect good overall socio-economic conditions in the town. Social variations in linear growth indicate the existence of inequalities in infant health, which may further increase with age.

Loading...

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

References (31)

  1. Baxter-Jones AD, Cardy AH, Helms PJ, Phillips DO, Smith WC. Influence of socioeconomic conditions on growth in infancy: the 1921 Aberdeen birth cohort. Arch Dis Child. 1999;81:5-9.
  2. World Health Organization. Physical status: the use and interpretation of anthropometry. Report of a WHO expert committee. WHO Technical Report Series, No. 854. Geneva (Switzerland): World Health Organiza- tion; 1995.
  3. Boddy J, Skuse D, Andrews B. The developmental sequelae of nonorganic failure to thrive. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2000;41:1003-14.
  4. Corbett SS, Drewett RF. To what extent is failure to thrive in infancy associated with poorer cognitive deve- lopment? A review and meta-analysis. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2004;45:641-54.
  5. Robinson SM, Barker DJ. Coronary heart disease: a dis- order of growth. Proc Nutr Soc. 2002;61:537-42.
  6. Spurr GB, Barac-Nieto M, Maksud MG. Productivity and maximal oxygen consumption in sugar cane cut- ters. Am J Clin Nutr. 1977;30:316-21.
  7. Stettler N, Zemel BS, Kumanyika S, Stallings VA. Infant weight gain and childhood overweight status in a multicenter, cohort study. Pediatrics. 2002;109:194-9.
  8. Stettler N, Kumanyika SK, Katz SH, Zemel BS, Stallings VA. Rapid weight gain during infancy and obesity in young adulthood in a cohort of African Americans. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003;77:1374-8.
  9. Micklewright J, Ismail S. What can child anthropometry reveal about living standards and public policy? An il- lustration from Central Asia. Review of Income and Wealth. 2001;47:65-80.
  10. World Health Organization. Global database on child growth and malnutrition. WHO/NUT/97.4. Geneva (Switzerland): World Health Organization; 1997.
  11. Habicht JP, Martorell R, Yarbrough C, Malina RM, Klein RE. Height and weight standards for preschool children. How relevant are ethnic differences in growth poten- tial? Lancet. 1974;1:611-4.
  12. Frongillo EA Jr, Hanson KM. Determinants of variability among nations in child growth. Ann Hum Biol. 1995; 22:395-411.
  13. Koupilova I, Bobak M, Holcik J, Pikhart H, Leon DA. In- creasing social variation in birth outcomes in the Czech Republic after 1989. Am J Public Health. 1998;88: 1343-7.
  14. Koupilova I, Rahu K, Rahu M, Karro H, Leon DA. Social determinants of birthweight and length of gestation in Estonia during the transition to democracy. Int J Epide- miol. 2000;29:118-24.
  15. Dickute J, Padaiga Z, Grabauskas V, Nadisauskiene RJ, Basys V, Gaizauskiene A. Maternal socio-economic fac- tors and the risk of low birth weight in Lithuania. Medicina (Kaunas). 2004;40:475-82.
  16. Grjibovski AM, Bygren LO, Svartbo B, Magnus P. Social variations in fetal growth in a Russian setting: an analysis of medical records. Ann Epidemiol. 2003;13:599-605.
  17. The World Bank Group. World development Indica- tors. Available from: http://devdata.worldbank.org/ dataon line. Accessed: August 20, 2004.
  18. Kuczmarski RJ, Ogden CL, Guo SS, Grummer-Strawn LM, Flegal KM, Mei Z, et al. 2000 CDC Growth Charts for the United States: methods and development. Vital Health Stat 11. 2002;(246):1-190.
  19. Dean AG, Dean JA, Colombier D, Brendel KA, Smith DC, Burton AH, et al. Epi-Info, Version 6. A word-pro- cessing, database, and statistics program for the public health on IBM-compatible microcomputers. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 1995.
  20. Zhang J, Bowes WA Jr. Birth-weight-for-gestational-age patterns by race, sex, and parity in the United States population. Obstet Gynecol. 1995;86:200-8.
  21. Post CL, Victora CG. The low prevalence of weight-for- height deficits in Brazilian children is related to body proportions. J Nutr. 2001;131:1290-6.
  22. Branca F, Ferrari M. Impact of micronutrient deficien- cies on growth: the stunting syndrome. Ann Nutr Metab. 2002;46 Suppl 1:8-17.
  23. Grjibovski AM. Socio-demographic determinants of birth weight and ponderal index in an urban Russian setting [dissertation].
  24. Oslo, (Norway): University of Oslo; 2003.
  25. Ong KK, Preece MA, Emmett PM, Ahmed ML, Dunger DB; ALSPAC Study Team. Size at birth and early child- hood growth in relation to maternal smoking, parity and infant breast-feeding: longitudinal birth cohort study and analysis. Pediatr Res. 2002;52:863-7.
  26. Kramer MS, Guo T, Platt RW, Shapiro S, Collet JP, Chalmers B, et al. Breastfeeding and infant growth: biol- ogy or bias? Pediatrics. 2002;110:343-7.
  27. Mamabolo RL, Alberts M, Mbenyane GX, Steyn NP, Nthangeni NG, Delemarre-Van De Waal HA, et al. Feeding practices and growth of infants from birth to 12 months in the central region of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Nutrition. 2004;20:327-33.
  28. Kon I. Diet habits and nutritional practice of infants and children in Russia. Ann Nutr Metab. 2003;47:349-50.
  29. Dietz WH. Critical periods in childhood for the devel- opment of obesity. Am J Clin Nutr. 1994;59:955-9.
  30. Mei Z, Grummer-Strawn LM, Scanlon KS. Does over- weight in infancy persist through the preschool years? An analysis of CDC Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System data. Soz Praventivmed. 2003;48:161-7.
  31. Odland JO, Tchachtchine VP, Bykov V, Fiskebeck PE, Lund E, Thomassen Y, et al. Critical evaluation of medi- cal, statistical, and occupational data sources in the Kola Peninsula of Russia pertinent to reproductive health studies. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 1999; 72:151-60.