The growth of children in Tari is poorer than the growth of children in two-thirds of the highlands districts of Papua New Guinea. The important proximal determinants of these levels of growth in Tari are birthweight, food and nutrient intake and disease episodes. Birthweights in Tari are lower than in a number of other highlands centres and this is likely to be an important determinant of postnatal growth and disease, particularly for those whose birthweights are below 2500g. The overall effect of child feeding practices in Tari is that energy and protein intakes may be marginal after the first few months of life and contribute to the low levels of growth. Episodes of illness (young children experience an average of 4 episodes in the first year) decrease nutrient intake and increase nutrient requirements; this, combined with the failure to increase food intake during the convalescent period, means that the overall result of an episode of disease is a decrease in growth. There are functional consequences of this pattern of growth in Tari: low-birthweight children and those who are malnourished have a higher mortality rate than those of normal birthweight and growth, and short children have delays in achieving gross motor development milestones.
growth aspects ; Child ; Birth Weight ; Feeding and dietary regimes ; seconds