Infant nutrition and growth.

Infant growth patterns by birth weight were assessed weekly in two villages in Madura Indonesia in 1982-85. Virtually all 658 infants were breast-fed during the first year with minimal use of milk substitutes. Banana and rice were force-fed soon after birth; older infants received egg fish and fruit based on demand. However few infants consumed more than 300 kcal/day from food other than breast milk. There was no association between energy intake from additional food and milk intake/number of feeds until 25-32 weeks. Birth weight and maternal postpartum body mass index were significant determinants of postnatal growth. Although low-birth-weight (LBW) infants demonstrated catch-up weight gain in the first 2 months they began to falter at 5 months. Among all infants there was a pattern of length being maintained at the level at birth or faltering. No consistent relationships emerged between weight gain and dietary intake suggesting the presence of non-dietary growth-limiting factors. More information about postnatal growth potential was provided by the length of newborns than their proportionality. At 6 months of age short and heavy neonates (regardless of birth weight) showed greater weight and length gains in relation to their birth weights and lengths than long and light neonates. At 12 months these long light infants were close to the cutoff below which malnutrition exists. The progressive deterioration in weight and length gain in the second half of infancy appears attributable to the small quantity and poor quality of weaning foods eaten.