https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(07)61692-4.pdf

Maternal and child undernutrition: consequences for adult health and human capital.

The East Asian miracle: Economic growth and public policy: By the World Bank. (New York: Oxford University Press for the World Bank, 1993. 389 pp. $19.95, paper.)

The association between obesity and morbidity resulting from chronic diseases is well known This systematic review addresses studies of the role of rapid growth in infancy and childhood as possible determinants of overweight and obesity later in the life course We reviewed MEDLINE for studies reporting on growth in infancy and childhood, as well as measures of weight or adiposity in later childhood, adolescence or adulthood The methodological quality of the papers was assessed using the criteria suggested by Downs and Black Sixteen articles that fulfilled review criteria were located There was wide variability in the indicators used for defining rapid growth as well as overweight or obesity The age range in which weight or adiposity was measured ranged from 3 to 70 years In spite of differences in definitions used, 13 articles that reported on early rapid growth found significant associations with later overweight or adiposity Efforts should be made to standardize the definition of rapid growth, as well as that of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents The most frequent definition for rapid growth in this review was a Z-score change greater than 067 in weight for age between two different ages in childhood Regarding obesity, the definition proposed by the International Obesity Task Force also appears to be most appropriate The present results indicate that early growth is indeed associated with the prevalence of obesity later in the life course

Rapid growth in infancy and childhood and obesity in later life--a systematic review.

UNLABELLED In a systematic review, we identified 21 separate studies with data on the association between rapid infancy weight gain, up to age 2 y, and subsequent obesity risk. Uniformly all studies reported significant positive associations. We transformed the reported effect sizes to a standard infancy weight gain exposure, and found that further differences in study design accounted for much of the variation in risk. An accompanying paper by Melinda Yeung reminds us that there are benefits of postnatal catch-up growth in certain populations, and suggests that genetic and nutritional factors could moderate the unhealthy translation of rapid infancy weight gain to visceral fat and insulin resistance. Further evidence is needed, and we will need to rigorously test the benefits and risks of any interventions. However, the concept of "healthy" rapid catch-up infancy growth is an attractive prospect. CONCLUSION Rapid infancy weight gain is consistently associated with increased subsequent obesity risk, but the predictive ability of different weight gain cut-offs needs to be tested.

Rapid infancy weight gain and subsequent obesity: Systematic reviews and hopeful suggestions

Prisoners who fail to take control of their correctional programming fail to change themselves. Ricciardelli is not writing in the tradition of governmentality scholars; rather, she sets out to describe the interior worlds of prisoners as they seek to reconcile the environmental risks of drugs and violence with their hope to achieve parole and reintegrate into their community. Prisons are unlikely places for positive self-change.

Epistemologies of the South: Justice Against Epistemicide:

South Africa's total fertility rate is estimated to be one of the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, fewer than three births per woman nationally and declining. At the same time, adolescent childbearing levels remain high: More than 30 percent of 19-year-old girls are reported to have given birth at least once. Evidence from focus-group discussions conducted in urban and rural areas in South Africa with young black women and men, and with the parents of teenage mothers, is used to consider the experience of early parenthood, including the role of paternity, education, work opportunities, and subsequent fertility. In South Africa, in contrast to many other settings, teenage mothers may return to school once they have given birth, and this opportunity is strongly related to a long delay before the birth of a second child. Educated girls also tend to bring more bridewealth, which may encourage parents to support their daughters' schooling, and perhaps their return to school following childbirth. The support of the child, however, is often subject to paternal recognition and commitment, even though boys are unwilling to admit paternity because it jeopardizes their educational and employment opportunities.

/pdf/adolescent-pregnancy-and-parenthood-in-south-africa-43v62mwjcp.pdf

Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenthood in South Africa

What is the impact of microfinance on poor people?: a systematic review of evidence from sub-Saharan Africa

This article describes the patterns and effects of maternal snuff use, cigarette smoking and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke during pregnancy on birthweight and gestational age, in women living in Johannesburg and Soweto in 1990. A cohort of 1593 women with singleton live births provided information about their own and household members' usage of tobacco products during pregnancy. The women completed a questionnaire while attending antenatal services. Data on gestational age and birthweight were obtained from birth records. Women who smoked cigarettes or used snuff during pregnancy accounted for 6.1% and 7.5% of the study population respectively. The mean birthweight of non-tobacco users was 3148 g [95% CI 3123, 3173] and that of the smokers 2982 g [95% CI 2875, 3090], resulting in a significantly lower mean birthweight of 165 g for babies of smoking mothers (P = 0.005). In contrast, women using snuff gave birth to infants with a mean birthweight of 3118 g [95% CI 3043, 3192], which is a non-significant (P = 0.52) decrease (29.4 g) in their infants' birthweights compared with those not using tobacco. A linear regression analysis identified short gestational age, female infant, a mother without hypertension during pregnancy, coloured (mixed racial ancestry), and Asian infants compared with black infants, lower parity, less than 12 years of education and smoking cigarettes as significant predictors of low birthweight, while the use of snuff during pregnancy was not associated with low birthweight. The snuff users, however, had a significant shorter gestational age than the other two groups of women. The birthweight reduction adjusted for possible confounders was 137 g [95% CI 26.6, 247.3 (P = 0.015)] for cigarette smokers and 17.1 g [95% CI -69.5, -102.7, P = 0.69] for snuff users respectively, compared with the birthweight of non-tobacco users. Among women who did not smoke cigarettes or use snuff, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke did not result in significant effects on the birthweight of their infants. In conclusion, infants of cigarette smokers had significantly lower birthweights than those of non-tobacco users or snuff users who are exposed to nicotine during pregnancy. Passive smoking did not affect birthweight significantly in this population.

The influence of maternal cigarette smoking, snuff use and passive smoking on pregnancy outcomes: the Birth To Ten Study.

Birth to Ten now Birth to Twenty (BT20) is the largest and longest running longitudinal birth cohort study in Africa. In this paper the methods magnitude and significance of recruitment follow-up and attrition are described. Although more than 5000 births were notified in the area in the 7-week enrollment period in early 1990 only 3275 children were established to have been born to women who were residents in the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan area for at least the first 6 months of the child’s life. Seventy per cent of these children and their families have been followed up for more than 12 years indicating an average attrition rate of less than 3% per annum with most attrition occurring in the first 2 years of the study. The most common reason for attrition was movement out of the study area although detailed follow-up and the extent of contact re-established at later points indicate very high levels of circular migration among women and young children between urban and rural areas as well as very high levels of residential mobility within urban areas. There has been no differential loss of vulnerable families and children. African women living in Soweto are the most consistent participants in the study. A bias by population group membership and residential area was introduced in the recruitment phases of the project by the difficulty of enrolling the small proportion of people in the metropolis largely Whites who used private delivery services in 1989–90. (authors)

/pdf/transition-from-birth-to-ten-to-birth-to-twenty-the-south-53od9f4u3x.pdf

Transition from Birth to Ten to Birth to Twenty: the South African cohort reaches 13 years of age

Objective: Children with birth weight appropriate for gestational age (AGA) who also demonstrate rapid weight gain in infancy have a greater risk of being overweight or obese during childhood. A concurrent advancement in skeletal maturity would account for their greater size and would, therefore, not necessarily pose a threat of greater risk during adolescence and early adulthood. This study aims to determine whether children with rapid weight gain during infancy have advanced skeletal maturity during childhood.



Research Methods and Procedures: One hundred and ninety-three African children (boys = 108; girls = 85) of normal birth weight and gestational age were assessed from birth to 9 years. Body composition was assessed at 9 years of age by whole-body DXA, and skeletal maturity was assessed using the Tanner-Whitehouse II technique. Rapid weight gain in infancy was defined as a +0.67 change in weight-for-age Z-score between birth and 2 years.



Results: Rapid weight gain was experienced by over 20% of the sample. Children with rapid weight gain were significantly lighter at birth and significantly taller, heavier, and fatter throughout childhood. Chronological age and Tanner-Whitehouse II technique skeletal ages at 9 years were not significantly different between groups or between sexes within groups.



Discussion: Because AGA children with rapid weight gain have a greater risk of overweight and obesity but are not advanced in skeletal maturity, later adolescent adjustments toward average weight and fatness values are unlikely. The identification and monitoring of such children is of importance in reducing their risk of morbidity.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1038/oby.2003.62

Thea de Wet

Papers

Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenthood in South Africa

What is the impact of microfinance on poor people?: a systematic review of evidence from sub-Saharan Africa

The influence of maternal cigarette smoking, snuff use and passive smoking on pregnancy outcomes: the Birth To Ten Study.

Transition from Birth to Ten to Birth to Twenty: the South African cohort reaches 13 years of age

The relationship of rapid weight gain in infancy to obesity and skeletal maturity in childhood.