Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #345945
Title: Infant Growth Trajectories from Birth to 12 Months of Age: Findings from Delta Healthy Sprouts Comparative Impact Trial

Author
item Thomson, Jessica
item TUSSING-HUMPHREYS, LISA - University Of Illinois
item Goodman, Melissa
item LANDRY, ALICIA - University Of Arkansas

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/27/2017
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Delta Healthy Sprouts was designed to test the comparative impact of two maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting curricula on weight status, infant growth, and other health behaviors of women and their infants residing in the United States’ Lower Mississippi Delta region. A primary aim was to determine if infant growth trajectories differed between treatment arms. Participants were followed for 18 months (6 months gestation through 12 months postnatal) after random assignment to one of two treatment arms – standard or diet and physical activity enhanced curriculum. Weight and length measurements were obtained on participants’ infants at each monthly home visit. Infant weight-for-length and weight-for-age percentiles and z-scores were computed based on World Health Organization growth curves for sex and age. Growth outcomes – child obesity defined as meeting or exceeding the 95th percentile of weight-for-length and rapid infant weight gain defined as an increase in weight-for-age z-score above 0.67 standard deviation – were modeled as time to event data with Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Postnatal period retention rates were 83% (25/30) and 88% (21/24) for the standard and enhanced treatment arms. Median survival times for obesity and rapid infant weight gain were 2.8 and 7.0 months, respectively, for the standard and 2.0 and 6.0 months, respectively, for the enhanced arm. Significant differences between the two arms were not apparent. The enhanced treatment was not effective at improving infant growth trajectories in this cohort of rural, Southern, primarily African American women. This work was supported by the USDA Agricultural Research Service (Project 6401-53000-003-00D).