Neonatal anthropometry: the thin-fat Indian baby. The Pune Maternal Nutrition Study

To examine body size and fat measurements of babies born in rural India and compare them with white Caucasian babies born in an industrialised country.

Community-based observational study in rural India, and comparison with data from an earlier study in the UK, measured using similar methods.

A total of 631 term babies born in six rural villages, near the city of Pune, Maharashtra, India, and 338 term babies born in the Princess Anne Hospital, Southampton, UK.

Maternal weight and height, and neonatal weight, length, head, mid-upper-arm and abdominal circumferences, subscapular and triceps skinfold thicknesses, and placental weight.

The Indian mothers were younger, lighter, shorter and had a lower mean body mass index (BMI) (mean age, weight, height and BMI: 21.4 y, 44.6 kg, 1.52 m, and 18.2 kg/m(2)) than Southampton mothers (26.8 y, 63.6 kg, 1.63 m and 23.4 kg/m(2)). They gave birth to lighter babies (mean birthweight: 2.7 kg compared with 3.5 kg). Compared to Southampton babies, the Indian babies were small in all body measurements, the smallest being abdominal circumference (s.d. score: -2.38; 95% CI: -2.48 to -2.29) and mid-arm circumference (s.d. score: -1.82; 95% CI: -1.89 to -1.75), while the most preserved measurement was the subscapular skinfold thickness (s.d. score: -0.53; 95% CI: -0.61 to -0.46). Skinfolds were relatively preserved in the lightest babies (below the 10th percentile of birthweight) in both populations.

Small Indian babies have small abdominal viscera and low muscle mass, but preserve body fat during their intrauterine development. This body composition may persist postnatally and predispose to an insulin-resistant state.