A longitudinal study of growth in Ugandan pre-school children
Rutishauser, I.H.
East African Medical Journal 51(9): 659-674
1974
ISSN/ISBN: 0012-835X PMID: 4434883 Document Number: 73072
Anthropometric measurements were made monthly on 60 Ugandan children aged up to 12 months initially, until 3 years old and results were compared with those for healthy North American and European children. From 3 months on the Ugandan children weighed less than the standard and the difference increased up to 2 years. The lowest rate of growth in relation to the standard was during the first year of life and not when the difference in weight was greatest, between 18 and 30 months. Length and head, arm and chest circumferences were also below standard for most of the time although for some measurements there was some catch-up growth later. Triceps skin fold was the most severely affected measurement with a mean gain only 11% of the standard between 3 and 12 months. Faltering in weight gain occurred in most children in the second and third year during the rainy season and in the months after the cessation of breast feeding. Children who developed hypoalbuminaemia during the second year of life could not be readily distinguished in advance by anthropometric measurements alone.