MATERNAL VITAMIN-A-DEFICIENCY AND CHILD GROWTH FAILURE DURING HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS INFECTION

Although vitamin A is thought to influence growth, the relationship be tween maternal vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy and child growth is unknown. A longitudinal cohort study of 467 HIV-infected women and their children was conducted in Blantyre, Malawi. The children's weigh t and height were measured every 3 months until they were 24 months ol d. Maternal vitamin A deficiency was independently related to both lin ear and ponderal growth after adjustment for effects of body mass inde x, child gender, and child HIV status. By 12 months of age, infants bo rn to mothers who were vitamin A-deficient during pregnancy weighed si milar to 8% less (p < 0.001) and were similar to 2% shorter (p < 0.001 ) than infants born to mothers who were not deficient. This study sugg ests children born to HIV-infected women who are vitamin A-deficient d uring pregnancy are more likely to have growth failure.