THE GROWTH OF THE LONG BONES IN 80 INFANTS ROENTGENOGRAMS VERSUS ANTHROPOMETRY

Abstract

The children measured for this study were consecutive newborn infants at the Florence Crittenton Home in Denver. The data used were on those children who remained in the Home for 12 weeks or longer after birth. This group of 80 included 39 boys and 41 girls. The mothers of these children were in good physical health although 3 were classified as morons and 2 more were dull. Six had 4+ Wassermann reactions but had antiluetic treatment during pregnancy. The mean age of the mothers at time of delivery was just under 20 years. They were all first pregnancies with one exception. Since no sex difference was found in this small group, the data on boys and girls were combined and gave a mean birth weight of 6.96 pounds and a mean body length of 48.29 cm. at birth. Two sets of twins were included. The nationality was mixed. Forty-five children had American parents, 10 Spanish parents, and 2 Negro parents. The other nationalities included Italian, German, Swedish, Austrian, Mexican, and American mixtures. One child had a 3+ Wassermann at 3 months. All others had negative Wassermann reactions. The children were all partially breast fed with evaporated milk formulae as supplementary feedings. Cod liver oil was started by six weeks of age in amounts from 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls daily. The infants were all in good health during their stay at Crittenton Home although case #458 regurgitated a great deal of her food and failed to gain weight satisfactorily; and case #407 was thought to be mentally retarded. The mean weight gain for the group was 6 ounces per week. The children were measured and roentgenograms were taken on the same day. Examinations were at approximately 6 weeks' intervals and no data were used unless a child had had at least 3 examinations. All measurements anthropometric and X-ray were made by one person (M.M.). Of the group of 80, 46 had 3 examinations each, 17 had 4 examinations, 14 had 5 examinations, and 3 had 6 examinations. On 71 of the cases measurements were begun during the first two weeks of life. Some of the infants who were in the Home at the time this study was begun were included and their initial examinations were at ages 6 to 21 weeks. Ages were approximated to the nearest week in all cases.