The bacon chow study: Analyses of the effects of infectious illness on growth of infants

Abstract

The effect of infectious illnesses on growth velocity and deceleration for weight and length in the first year of life was analyzed in a longitudinal sample of 118 infants. Data were taken from the Bacon Chow Maternal Nutritional Supplementation Study performed in Suilin Township, Taiwan, from 1967 to 1973. Semestral growth velocity and change in velocity were regressed on principal components scores for morbidity with analysis of covariance adjustment for differences due to nutritional treatment, treatment timing (lactation only vs. gestation and lactation) and sex. The duration of upper respiratory illness was significantly positively associated with the rate of weight gain in the first semester, and explained nearly four percent of variance in growth velocity in the cohort. The frequency of diarrhea was significantly negatively correlated with rate of growth in length in the second semester, and explained approximately three percent of the variance. Maternal supplementation in pregnancy and lactation did not affect the relationship between growth and illness. Significant sex differences exist in the rate of weight gain and morbidity.