Size at Birth and Early Childhood Growth in Relation to Maternal Smoking, Parity and Infant Breast-Feeding: Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study and Analysis

摘要

There is remarkably wide variation in rates of infancy growth, however, its regulation is not well understood. We examined the relationship between maternal smoking, parity, and breast- or bottle-feeding to size at birth and childhood growth between 0 and 5 y in a large representative birth cohort. A total of 1335 normal infants had weight, length/height, and head circumference measured at birth and on up to 10 occasions to 5 y old. Multilevel modeling (MLwiN) was used to analyze longitudinal growth data. Infants of maternal smokers were symmetrically small at birth (p p p = 0.002). In conclusion, early postnatal growth rates are strongly influenced by a drive to compensate for antenatal restraint or enhancement of fetal growth by maternal-uterine factors. The mechanisms that signal catch-up or catch-down growth are unknown but may involve programming of appetite. The importance of nutrition on early childhood growth is emphasized by the marked difference in growth rates between breast- and bottle-fed infants. The sequence of fetal growth restraint and postnatal catch-up growth may predispose to obesity risk in this contemporary population.Abbreviations: ALSPAC, Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Childhood; SDS, SD score