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Parallel deficits in linear growth and mental development in low-income Mexican infants in the second year of life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Lia C Fernald ,
Lynnette M Neufeld ,
Lauren R Barton ,
Lourdes Schnaas ,
Juan Rivera  and
Paul J Gertler
Lia C Fernald*
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 140 Warren Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, USA
Lynnette M Neufeld
Affiliation:
National Institute of Public Health, Mexico
Lauren R Barton
Affiliation:
Center for Health and Community, Universtiy of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Lourdes Schnaas
Affiliation:
National Institute of Perinatology, Mexico
Juan Rivera
Affiliation:
National Institute of Public Health, Mexico
Paul J Gertler
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
*
*Corresponding author: Email fernald@berkeley.edu
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Abstract

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Objective

To explore anthropometric indicators and mental development in very-low-income children in the second year of life.

Design

Cross-sectional survey.

Setting

Low-income areas (income <20th percentile) in semi-urban Mexico (defined as towns or cities with 2500–50 000 inhabitants).

Subjects

Eight hundred and ninety-six children aged 12.5–23.5 months surveyed from September to December 2001.

Methods

Questionnaire survey and anthropometric survey of households. Multivariate regression models evaluated differences across age in anthropometry (height-for-age Z-score (HAZ) and weight-for-height Z-score) and cognitive function (Mental Development Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development) while controlling for socio-economic and parental characteristics.

Results

There was a significant decline in HAZ and in age-adjusted MDI score across the second year of life. Although the children showed MDI scores close to the mean, normed US values at 13–14 months, the scores were significantly lower than expected in older children (P < 0.0001), even after controlling for socio-economic status and parental characteristics. At 13–14 months, only 3% of children received scores below 70 (less than minus two standard deviations), whereas by 19–20 months, almost 17% of children were performing below this level. No socio-economic or parental characteristics were significant predictors of HAZ or MDI.

Conclusions

Parallel deficits are evident in both height-for-age and cognitive functioning during the second year of life in low-income Mexican infants. The consistency of these growth and development findings further stresses the need for targeted interventions to reduce the vulnerability of low-income Mexican children very early in life.

Keywords

Height-for-ageChild developmentMexicoUrbanSocio-economic statusPoverty
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , April 2006 , pp. 178 - 186
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2006

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