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[Growth in children fed exclusively with breast milk during the first 6 months of life]
V A Falcão Pimentel1, M C Midlej Joaquim, E Falcão Pimentel
1Hospital Universitário de Brasília, Fundação Hospitalar do Distrito Federal, Brasil.
Insights
Exclusively breast-fed infants showed satisfactory growth in their first year, with weight doubling between 3-4 months for boys and by 4 months for girls. This study tracked 232 infants from low-income families in Brazil.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Human Growth and Development
Context:
- Study conducted in Brazil, 1983-1987.
- Focused on 232 exclusively breast-fed infants from low-income families.
- Infants were breast-fed on demand, single births, with no pathological history.
Purpose:
- To analyze first-year growth patterns (weight and height) in exclusively breast-fed children.
- To establish percentile distributions for growth parameters from birth to 12 months.
- To assess the adequacy of growth in this cohort.
Summary:
- Weight and height were monitored from birth to 12 months using percentile distributions (10th-90th).
- Average quarterly increases in weight and height were highest in the first quarter.
- Infant boys' weight doubled between 3-4 months; girls' weight doubled by 4 months.
Impact:
- Demonstrates satisfactory growth patterns in exclusively breast-fed infants from low-income backgrounds.
- Provides growth data relevant to pediatric care and infant nutrition in similar populations.
- Highlights the rapid growth phase in early infancy, particularly weight gain.
Abstract:
To study first year growth patterns in exclusively breast-fed children, the growth (weight and height) of 232 children who had received only breastmilk during the six first months of life was followed over a period extending from 1983 to 1987. The follow-ups were done in the pediatric dispensary at Taguatinga Health Center No. 7 in the Federal District of Brazil. The children were from low-income families and represented various racial mixes. All were single products of pregnancy, had no pathological history, and had been breast-fed on demand. The percentile distribution (90, 75, 50, 25, and 10) of weight and height at birth and at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, and 12 months of age showed that the average quarterly increases in these variables were greater in the first quarter and less in subsequent quarters. The weight of the boys doubled between the third and fourth months, while that of the girls doubled in the fourth month. The results indicate that the growth of these children was satisfactory.