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Early growth faltering in healthy term infants predicts longitudinal growth

Erin S Ross1, Nancy F Krebs, A Laurie W Shroyer

  • 1Section of Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. erin.ross@ucdenver.edu

Early Human Development
|July 18, 2009
PubMed

Insights

A significant drop in infant weight-for-age between 4-6 months can predict later growth faltering. This early warning sign helps identify infants needing closer monitoring for optimal child development.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Child Health
  • Growth Monitoring

Background:

  • Current infant growth monitoring may miss early signs of growth faltering.
  • Identifying problematic negative weight shifts is challenging for healthcare providers.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess if early weight-for-age deceleration predicts later growth faltering.
  • To establish a reliable indicator for identifying at-risk infants.

Main Methods:

  • Analyzed longitudinal data of 1978 healthy infants (birth to 2 years).
  • Employed logistic regression to evaluate negative weight-for-age changes across well-child visits.
  • Used 2000 CDC and 2006 WHO growth charts for sensitivity analyses.

Main Results:

  • A negative shift in z-scores ≥ -0.85 between 4-6 months increased the odds of growth faltering by 2.4.
  • The model remained significant using both CDC and WHO growth charts.
  • Underweight prevalence varied: 24% overall, 14.7% with 2006 WHO charts.

Conclusions:

  • A downward shift in weight-for-age during early infancy is a valid predictor of later poor growth.
  • This indicator can be utilized during frequent well-child visits.
  • Supports early identification and intervention for at-risk infants.
Abstract

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