Is there an association between the nutritional status of the mother and that of her 2-year-old to 5-year-old child?

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether there is an association between the nutritional status of the mother and that of her 2-year-old to 5-year-old child in a rural village in South Africa where there is a high prevalence of childhood malnutrition (in particular, deficiencies of vitamin A and iron) and of maternal obesity.A blood sample and anthropometric measurements were obtained for 118 child–mother pairs. There was a positive mother–child correlation for serum ferritin (R=0.2304, P<0.05) and haemoglobin (R=0.2664, P<0.01) concentrations, respectively. The child of an anaemic mother had a relative risk of 1.632 of also being anaemic. There was no mother–child association for either serum retinol concentration or anthropometric measurements. Serum retinol concentrations showed a positive correlation with both serum ferritin (mothers only; R=0.2161, P<0.01) and haemoglobin (R=0.2807, P<0.01 for mothers; and R=0.2710, P < 0.01 for children) concentrations.The mother–child association for iron status is probably because of an inadequate dietary intake and low bioavailability of dietary iron, which are major causes of iron deficiency. The lack of mother–child association for serum retinol concentration could probably be ascribed to the fact that children are more susceptible to vitamin A deficiency than adults because of childhood diseases.