GROWTH, FEEDING PRACTICES AND INFECTIONS IN BLACK INFANTS

Objective. To investigate the growth, early feeding practices and prev alence of infections in black infants. Design. Longitudinal study with prospective documentation of data. Setting. Kalafong Hospital, Pretor ia. Patients. Term, appropriately grown infants with a positive rapid plasma reagin test on cord blood were enrolled. Infants who on follow- up did not have congenital syphilis were studied. Results. At birth th e mean weight-for-age Z-scores corresponded with those of the National Center of Health Statistics (NCHS) reference population and increased during the first 3 months. A fall-off in growth performance in respec t of weight gain occurred from 3 months and continued until 15 months when the study was terminated, At 6 and 12 months, 86% and 81% of infa nts respectively were receiving breast-milk. By 3 months, 78% of infan ts were receiving a supplementary food. At 9 months, 40% of infants ha d experienced an infection during the preceding 3 months. During the s tudy, upper airway infections comprised 74% of all episodes of infecti on. Conclusions. Compared with the NCHS reference population, black in fants grow adequately during the first 3 months of life. This is follo wed by a persistent fall-off in growth performance associated with the introduction of supplementary food.