Background: Good infant growth is important for future health. Assessing growth is common in pediatric care all\r\nover the world, both at the population and individual level. There are few studies of birth weight and growth\r\nstudies comparing urban and rural communities in Vietnam. The first aim is to describe and compare the birth\r\nweight distributions and physical growth (weight and length) of children during their first year in one rural and\r\none urban area of Hanoi Vietnam. The second aim is to study associations between the anthropometric outcomes\r\nand indicators of the economic and educational situations.\r\nMethods: Totally 1,466 children, born from 1st March, 2009 to June 2010, were followed monthly from birth to 12\r\nmonths of age in two Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites; one rural and one urban. In all, 14,199\r\nmeasurements each of weight and length were made. Birth weight was recorded separately. Information about\r\ndemographic conditions, education, occupation and economic conditions of persons and households was\r\nobtained from household surveys. Fractional Polynomial models and standard statistical methods were used for\r\ndescription and analysis.\r\nResults: Urban infants have higher birth weight and gain weight faster than rural infants. The mean birth weight\r\nfor urban boys and girls were 3,298 grams and 3,203 grams as compared to 3,105 grams and 3,057 grams for rural\r\nchildren. At 90 days, the urban boys were estimated to be 4.1% heavier than rural boys. This difference increased\r\nto 7.2% at 360 days. The corresponding difference for girls was 3.4% and 10.5%. The differences for length were\r\ncomparatively smaller. Both birth weight and growth were statistically significantly and positively associated with\r\neconomic conditions and mother education.\r\nConclusion: Birth weight was lower and the growth, weight and length, considerably slower in the rural area, for\r\nboys as well as for girls. The results support the hypothesis that the rather drastic differences in maternal education\r\nand economic conditions lead to poor nutrition for mothers and children in turn causing inferior birth weight and\r\ngrowth.
Loading....