| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2012 | Volume
: 15
| Issue : 2 | Page : 142-146 |
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Pattern of head growth and nutritional status of microcephalic infants at early postnatal assessment in a low-income country
BO Olusanya
Department of Community Health and Primary Care, Maternal and Child Health Unit, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
Correspondence Address:
B O Olusanya
Centre Director, Healthy Start Initiative, Ikoyi, Lagos
Nigeria
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/1119-3077.97288
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Objective: To determine the pattern of head growth and the early postnatal nutritional status of microcephalic infants in a low-income country.
Materials and Methods: A cohort study in Lagos, Nigeria in which the head growth of full-term singletons within the first postnatal check-up at 6-8 weeks was evaluated using the latest World Health Organization (WHO)'s Child Growth Standards (WHO-CGS) for head circumference. Nutritional status of microcephalic infants at follow-up was also determined after adjustments for potential confounders.
Results: Of the 452 infants (male: 227) enrolled, microcephalic infants were 32 (7.1%) at birth and 34 (7.5%) at follow-up. However, while 401 (88.7%) remained normocephalic and 15 (3.3%) remained microcephalic at follow-up, 19 (4.2%) became microcephalic and 17 (3.8%) became normocephalic. Microcephalic infants were significantly underweight
(P < 0.001), stunted (P < 0.001) and wasted (P < 0.001) at follow-up.
Conclusions: Regardless of their status at birth, microcephalic infants at 6-8weeks are likely to be undernourished by all nutritional indices suggesting that head circumference may serve as a complementary or default screening tool for early detection of undernourished infants in resource-constrained settings. |
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