Determinants of the mean growth rate of children under the age of six months: a cohort study

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate some factors that contributed to higher or lower growth rate of children up to the sixth month of life. This is a cohort study with 240 children evaluated in four stages. Variables of birth, eating habits of the child, mothers’ breast-feeding difficulty and pacifier use were investigated. Children’s weight gain rate (grams/day) and size gain (cm/month) were measured in all assessments and compared according to the variables of interest. In the first month, weight gain rate of children born by cesarean section was smaller. By the second month, the growth rate (weight and size gain) was higher among children who were exclusively or predominantly breastfed and lower among those who consumed infant formula. Children of mothers who reported difficulty to breastfeed showed a lower growth rate until the second month. Children age four months who consumed porridge had lower weight and size gain rate. Pacifier use was associated with lower weight gain rates up the first, second and fourth month.