Skip to main content
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1977 Jul;67(7):651–656. doi: 10.2105/ajph.67.7.651

Morbidity and growth of infants and young children in a rural Mexican village.

D Condon-Paoloni, J Cravioto, F E Johnston, E R De Licardie, T O Scholl
PMCID: PMC1653678  PMID: 879394

Abstract

The relationship between childhood illnesses and growth increments in length and weight was investigated in a 13-month birth cohort of rural Mexican children. Increments in length and weight for each year from birth to three years were related to high and low frequencies of reported time ill during the same period. Seventy-two of the 276 children had already been characterized as exhibiting "growth failure" relative to other members of the cohorts, and this was considered as a separate factor in the study. We found that upper and lower respiratory infection did not affect incremental gain in height or weight. A high frequency of diarrheal infection was found to reduce weight gain, although gain in height was not affected. Relative to the total sample, the average child with a high frequency of diarrhea achieved only 95 per cent of expected body weight age three; a chidl with both growth failure and high diarrheal frequency reached only 90 per cent of expected body weight at age three.

Full text

PDF

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ACHESON R. M. Effects of starvation, septicaemia and chronic illness on the growth cartilage plate and metaphysis of the immature rat. J Anat. 1959 Jan;93(1):123–130. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. ACHESON R. M., MACINTYRE M. N. The effects of acute infection and acute starvation on skeletal development; a study of young rats. Br J Exp Pathol. 1958 Feb;39(1):37–45. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ascoli W., Guzmán M. A., Scrimshaw N. S., Gordon J. E. Nutrition and infection field study in Guatemalan villages, 1959-1964. IV. Deaths of infants and preschool children. Arch Environ Health. 1967 Oct;15(4):439–449. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1967.10664945. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Blanco R. A., Acheson R. M., Canosa C., Salomon J. B. Height, weight, and lines of arrested growth in young Guatemalan children. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1974 Jan;40(1):39–47. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330400105. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. DRILLIEN C. M. A longitudinal study of the growth and development of prematurely and maturely born children. II. Physical development. Arch Dis Child. 1958 Oct;33(171):423–431. doi: 10.1136/adc.33.171.423. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dubos R., Savage D., Schaedler R. Biological Freudianism. Lasting effects of early environmental influences. Pediatrics. 1966 Nov;38(5):789–800. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gindhart P. S. The frequency of appearance of transverse lines in the tibia in relation to childhood illnesses. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1969 Jul;31(1):17–22. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330310104. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Guzmán M. A., Scrimshaw N. S., Bruch H. A., Gordon J. E. Nutrition and infection field study in Guatemalan villages, 1959-1964. VII. Physical growth and development of preschool children. Arch Environ Health. 1968 Jul;17(1):107–118. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1968.10665198. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. HEWITT D., STEWART A. The Oxford Child Health Survey: a study of the influence of social and genetic factors on infant weight. Hum Biol. 1952 Dec;24(4):309–319. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. HEWITT D., WESTROPP C. K., ACHESON R. M. Oxford child health survey; effect of childish ailments on skeletal development. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1955 Oct;9(4):179–186. doi: 10.1136/jech.9.4.179. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Habicht J. P., Martorell R., Yarbrough C., Malina R. M., Klein R. E. Height and weight standards for preschool children. How relevant are ethnic differences in growth potential? Lancet. 1974 Apr 6;1(7858):611–614. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(74)92663-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Martorell R., Yarbrough C., Lechtig A., Habicht J. P., Klein R. E. Diarrheal diseases and growth retardation in preschool Guatemalan children. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1975 Nov;43(3):341–346. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330430307. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. McGregor I. A., Rahman A. K., Thompson B., Billewicz W. Z., Thomson A. M. The growth of young children in a Gambian village. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1968;62(3):341–352. doi: 10.1016/0035-9203(68)90084-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Morley D., Bicknell J., Woodland M. Factors influencing the growth and nutritional status of infants and young children in a Nigerian village. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1968;62(2):164–199. doi: 10.1016/0035-9203(68)90155-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. PRADER A., TANNER J. M., von HARNACK G. Catch-up growth following illness or starvation. An example of developmental canalization in man. J Pediatr. 1963 May;62:646–659. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(63)80035-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. SCRIMSHAW N. S. ECOLOGICAL FACTORS IN NUTRITIONAL DISEASE. Am J Clin Nutr. 1964 Feb;14:112–122. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/14.2.112. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Salomon J. B., Gordon J. E., Scrimshaw N. S. Studies of diarrheal disease in Central America. X. Associated chickenpox, diarrhea and kwashiorkor in a highland Guatemalan village. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1966 Nov;15(6):997–1002. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1966.15.997. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Scrimshaw N. S., Salomon J. B., Bruch H. A., Gordon J. E. Studies of diarrheal disease in Central America. 8. Measles, diarrhea, and nutritional deficiency in rural Guatemala. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1966 Jul;15(4):625–631. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1966.15.625. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES