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Breast feeding and seasonal determinants of child growth in weight in East Bhutan
Author(s) -
Bøhler E,
Aalen O,
Bergstram S,
Halvorsen S
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1995.tb13820.x
Subject(s) - medicine , breast feeding , odds ratio , prospective cohort study , monsoon , zoology , demography , weight gain , pediatrics , body weight , biology , climatology , sociology , geology
In a prospective study of 113 children in rural Bhutan, morbidity, nutritional status and feeding practices were recorded monthly over a period of 32 months. This information was related to seasonal variations in rainfall. Diarrhoea had a negative impact on growth, as measured in monthly intervals, during the second and third years of life, reducing daily weight gain by 4.42.0 g (p < 0.0001). This impact was largest during the monsoon season. For respiratory tract infections the value was 2.61.7 g (p < 0.01). Growth in weight was lowest during the monsoon period (p < 0.0001). Continued breast feeding was associated with an odds ratio for diarrhoea of 0.51 (95% CI 0.34‐0.78), and for respiratory tract infections of 0.63 (95% CI 0.40, 0.99). Growth in weight was less reduced during the monsoon season for children who were breast fed (2.5 1.7 g/day) than for those not breast fed (7.53.5 g/day) {p < 0.01). We conclude that breast feeding is of particular importance throughout the warm and rainy season. ? Breast feeding, diarrhoea, growth, respiratory tract infections, seasonal variationE Bohler, Department of International Health, Box 1130 Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway