Evaluation of Infant Growth in the First Year of Life in a Low-income Primarily African-american Sample

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of indicators of malnutrition in a low-income primarily African-American sample and to examine the association between various sociodemographic characteristics and indicators of both undernutrition and overnutrition. The data were derived from the Women, Work and Wee ones project and consisted of 285 mother-infant dyads. Sociodemographic characteristics (maternal and infant) were based on maternal report when infants were three months old. Infant height and weight was measured at three and 12 months and both the CDC 2000 and the WHO 2006 growth charts were used in each analysis. The results indicate that the proportion of infants categorized as displaying non-normative growth (e.g., stunted, overweight) was dependent upon the growth chart used. Results also showed that infants of mothers with an irregular work schedule were significantly more likely to experience rapid weight gain from three to 12 months and breastfeeding at three months was protective against rapid weight gain during infancy. Implications of these findings are discussed for researchers, clinicians, and early prevention and interventionists.