[Differences in length and weight growth patterns between urban and rural infants].

ABSTRACT

Mixed longitudinal data of length and weight growth from 595 rural and 337 urban infants were analysed. Count models were fitted to the means of length and weight in different ages, sexes and feedings separately. The curve fitting to the data was rather satisfactory. Comparison of model parameters between urban and rural infants suggested that rural infants had a higher length level at birth but lower accelerative growth afterwards than urban ones, which was even more obvious in breast-fed infants. The difference in birth weight between them was not significant; and the urban infants had a faster linear growth velocity than rural ones. These results might be caused by the fact that food supplementing in urban infants was significantly earlier and better than in rural ones.