Growth and feeding practices of Vietnamese infants in Australia

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the growth and feeding practices in first-generation Vietnamese infants living in Australia. Design: Cohort study. Setting: The study was conducted between 1999 and 2002 in Sydney. Subjects: A total of 239 Vietnamese women were recruited randomly from antenatal clinics, and of these 210 were initially seen. During the first year, 20 cases (9.5%) were lost to follow-up. Data were collected at 0.5, 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12 months. Results: Vietnamese infants were significantly longer and heavier than reference data (both Po0.0001). The Vietnamese infants had a significant decline in weight growth with age compared with reference data (Po0.001). The Vietnamese infants had marginally higher s.d. score for ideal weight for length than reference data (P ¼ 0.044). There was a significant decline in ideal weight for length with age compared with reference data (P ¼ 0.0065). Both parents were significantly shorter (mean s.d. height scores: À1.570.8 (mother) and À1.870.8 (father)) than reference data (Po0.001). The incidence of breast feeding was 79%, but half of the breast feeding women had stopped breast feeding by 3 months. A total of 162 (79.8%) infants were given infant formula within the first week, of whom 131 (80.1%) were fed infant formula within the first 24 h after birth. Conclusions: Vietnamese infants in this study had growth comparable with reference data despite their parents being shorter than reference data. Breast feeding duration was short with infant formula being introduced early. Sponsorship:

Growth reference charts and the nutritional status of Indian children

“…However, the evidence provided here cannot be deemed conclusive, because the genetic pool of Indians who migrated to the UK does not necessarily coincide with that of others who remain in India. At the same time, this paper contributes to a literature that show how individuals that migrate from poor to developed countries are usually characterized by better growth patterns than their same-ethnicity counterparts who do not migrate (Yip et al 1992, Duggan and Harbottle 1996, Mei et al 1998, Smith et al 2003Nguyen et al 2004 …”

“…Yip et al (1992) and Mei et al (1998) study the growth patterns of children of Asian refugees in the United States, and conclude that factors such as diet and health services, rather than genetic factors, explain most of the inter-country variation in child anthropometric indices. Nguyen et al (2004) show that growth patterns of Vietnamese infants who reside in Australia are close to the U.S. reference charts, despite their parents' anthropometric indices being below reference. Gjerdingen et al (1996) find, instead, that a sample of 0 to 5-year old children of Hmong ethnicity living in the United States were slightly heavier then the CDC-WHO77 reference mean for the first months after birth, and shorter thereafter.…”

Infant-Feeding Practices of Low-Income Vietnamese American Women

“…6 Colostrum is typically not offered, but discarded, as it is thought to be unhealthy for the baby. 9 Nguyen et al 8 first documented in 2004 that 78.6% of Vietnamese Australians initiated breastfeeding within the first 3 days after birth and gave their infant colostrum. McLachlan et al 30 recently reported breastfeeding initiation rates at 75% amongst 100 Vietnamese Australians, with 64.9% of women reporting colostrum to be as healthy as formula.…”

“…5,6,7 However, after immigrating to Western countries, many are offered infant formula instead of breast milk. 8,9,10 Many women who breastfed their Vietnamese born infants do not breastfeed their Western-born infants. 9,10,11 Ghaemi-Ahmadi reported high breastfeeding and duration rates in Vietnam (e.g.…”

“…Research on breastfeeding practices of Vietnamese-Australian immigrants is out of date, primarily qualitative, and is based on small sample sizes. 8,9,12,15,16,17 Studies of breastfeeding practices of Vietnamese-American immigrants also reflect practices of a limited number of women, and do not evaluate use of breastfeeding peer counselors. 10,11,13,14,18 To ultimately increase breastfeeding rates in this population, understanding influences on infant feeding decisions is imperative.…”