LONGITUDINAL OBSERVATION OF GROWTH OF VIETNAMESE CHILDREN IN HANOI, VIETNAM FROM BIRTH TO 10 YEARS OF AGE

Objective: To investigate the physical growth of Vietnamese children o n a longitudinal basis and with regard to any secular trend. Design: A longitudinal study with four birth cohorts: 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984 followed up in their homes from birth to 10 y. Subjects: Two-hundred twelve children (128 boys and 84 girls) from two (Hai Ba and Hoan Kiem ) out of the four districts in Hanoi. Monitoring of physical growth: W eight, height, feeding practices and diseases were recorded monthly fr om birth to 12 months, three monthly from 12-36 months, six monthly fr om 36-72 months, and annually thereafter until 10 y of age. Results: M ean body weight and height of the children at birth was reduced and af ter the first 3-4 months were comparable to NCHS reference data. There after weight and height fell progressively from the NCHS reference. Th e most intense period of growth retardation was 15-36 months. The high est proportion of stunting occurred at 21 months (59.4% of males and 5 8.3% of females). Anthropometric data of Vietnamese children living 19 81-1995 in Hanoi were lower than from those living at the same time in Paris but higher than from those living in earlier decades in Vietnam . Conclusions: The longitudinally-followed children showed growth reta rdation at birth due to the poor nutritional and health status of thei r mothers. Children grew well during the first 3-4 months of age, then growth faltering was observed due to inadequate complementary feeding practices. There was a positive secular trend among Vietnamese childr en.