Posts Tagged ‘Childhood’
Birth Weight Affects Infection Risk in Childhood
Birth weight is inversely associated with the risk of hospitalization for an infectious disease throughout childhood, according to results of a study in Denmark. Infants born prematurely and those whose growth was restricted during pregnancy have depressed immune function. Studies have shown that these low birth weight children have higher mortality rates from infection, Drs. Anders Hviid and Mads Melbye from Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, report. However, there is less evidence of a relationship between birth weight and rates of illness from infection.
The researchers therefore examined the relationship between birth weight and hospitalization due to an infectious disease in 1.7 million children born in Denmark from 1977 through 2004. The authors linked information on birth weight with information on hospitalizations for an infectious disease.
The investigators observed an inverse association between birth weight and the risk of infectious disease hospitalizations. The risk of hospitalization between birth and the age of 14 years increased by 9 percent for each 17.64 ounce-reduction in birth weight. The risk peaked in infancy and persisted until the children were10 years old.
This effect of low birth weight was seen in preterm infants and full-term infants as well, Hviid and Melbye report in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
They point out that the association between birth weight and infectious disease in infancy is biologically plausible as a result of a depressed immune system. However, there is no explanation for why the association persists into childhood.
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