Interrelations between growth, weaning and disease experience in Khartoum infants

The monthly measurements of body weight and supine length from birth to 1 year of 203 infants in Khartoum were analysed to see whether growth characteristics affected the timing of weaning and the amount of illness experience. The study clearly shows that neonates who are long for their age tend to be weaned early, and this causes them to experience a greater average monthly 'illness experience' and slower subsequent growth. However, a multivariate analysis indicates that it is correlated environmental variables rather than length growth itself which primarily determines weaning age. Weight growth does not show these relationships but there is strong evidence that late weaning, independently of disease experience, promotes post-natal weight growth.