Document Type
Article
Abstract
The physical growth pattern of infants from birth to two years of age was studied in a Jerusalem mostly lower middle class community. Age and sex specific means and percentiles for weight and length at 1, 6, 12 and 24 months are presented and compared to the NCHS reference population. The study population is lighter and shorter than the US standard. In an analysis of variance the effect of sex, birth weight, duration of gestation, birth order and mothers’ educational level on weight and length at 12 and 24 months was studied. A strong association was found between birth weight and weight and length at both ages. Mothers’ educational level was associated with length only. Birth weight and sex accounted for a higher percentage of the explained variance while birth order and duration of gestation explained less than 1% of the variance. The correlation between the weight measurements and the length measurements increased with age. No statistically significant difference was found between the correlations of the purely longitudinal sample and the correlation based on all possible pairs of measurements, indicating that for some aspects of longitudinal studies a pure longitudinal sample may not be necessary.
Recommended Citation
Palti, Hava; Adler, Bella; Shamir, Zvi; Peritz, Eric; and Kark, Sidney L.
(1981)
"Growth Pattern in the First Two Years of Life in an Israeli Child Population. The Effect of Biological and Social Factors on Weight and Length.,"
Human Biology:
Vol. 53:
Iss.
2, Article 6.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol53/iss2/6
