Growth trend of infants of adolescent mothers

Author(s)

Gallo, Paulo Rogério ^[1] ; Leone, Claudio ; Amigo, Hugo

Affiliation

^[1] Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Saúde Pública - Brasil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Revista brasileira de crescimento e desenvolvimento humano; v. 19, n. 2, p. 297-305, ago. 2009.
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine

Abstract

The objective is compare the growth of children of adolescent mothers with that of children of adult mothers in the first two years of life. The method used in this study was a historical cohort study, carried out between 1998 and 2000, comparing the growth of 2 groups of children from birth to two years. One group is constituted by children of adolescent mothers (n=127) and the other, by children of adult mothers (n=181). Both groups were regularly monitored in two Basic Health Units of the University of São Paulo, which attend a typical target group that seeks assistance in public health services. The weight and length data were analyzed in Z scores (NCHS/WHO). Growth curves for each child were modeled based on regression equations from birth up to two years of age. The results showed that at birth and at 24 months of age, the groups were anthropometrically similar, but their measures were below the NCHS referential data (p<0.001). However, throughout the two years the two groups showed a different growth rhythm, with the growth deficit presented by the adolescents' children being manifested by a tendency for distancing from the referential data (p=0.0008). We conclude that the children of adolescent mothers have a worse growth performance compared with that of the children of adult mothers in the first two years of life. (AU)