Growth During the Infancy of Modern 20 Years Old Lithuanian Youth: The Comparison of Longitudinal Auxological Studies of Children Born in 1990 and 1966-1967

Growth During the Infancy of Modern 20 Years Old Lithuanian Youth: The Comparison of Longitudinal Auxological Studies of Children Born in 1990 and 1966-1967

Andrej Suchomlinov, Janina Tutkuvienė

The aim of the present study was to es­tablish the peculiarities of growth of Lithuanian infants during the 1990-1991 and the 1966-1968, and to re­veal the possible factors of growth pro - cess.

Material and methods. 1535 per­sonal health records of children born in 1990 at Vilnius and Vilnius region were analyzed. The main body size indices from birth to one year (height, weight, chest and head circumference), informa­tion about maternal and paternal age, ethnicity and occupation, family status, living conditions, pregnancy and delivery were recorded. The body size indices of in­fants were compared to the results of G. Česnys study (1970).

Results. Both boys and girls born in 1990 were significantly taller, heavier, and had bigger chest circumference than new­borns born in 1970. Nevertheless, starting from the second or third month of age the main growth indices of infants from our study became smaller. Lithuanian boys during first months of life were taller and heavier in comparison with the boys of the other nationalities. No ethnic differences in growth were recorded for the girls. The occupation of parents (manual vs. non-manual labour) was related with the growth of boys (form the fourth month); no such correlation for girls was detected. There were no differences in growth of urban and rural children during the first year of life.

Conclusions. Certain retardation in growth of infants born in 1990 might be related with the great socioeconomic changes in Lithuania at the beginning of independence. During the first months of life the inherited factors had the big­gest impact on infant growth, but the impact of socioeconomic factors became stronger since the third or fourth month. Boys were more sensitive to the impact of external growth factors than girls.

Keywords: infant growth, longitudinal study, personal health records, socioeco­nomic factors.