Relation of Poverty and Race to Birth Weight and Organ and Cell Structure in the Newborn

Association of Fetal Growth with Maternal Nutrition

“…This has been attributed to matemal regulators of fetal growth which may be intrinsic characteristics of the mother (Ounsted and Ounsted, 1966), or due to hormonal, cardiovascular (Hellman and Pritchard, 1971) or, most commonly, nutritional events affecting the mother before or during pregnancy (Naeye et al, 1971).…”

“…From morphologie and demographie eharaeteristies of stillborn and perinatal deaths with no abnormalities in the plaeenta or fetus, or evident diseases in the mother, Naeye et al (1971) eoncluded that "maternal malnutrition during gestation provides the simplest explanation for the undernutrition found in newborn infants of the poor." N onetheless many uneertainties about the relation between nutrition and fetal development persist, sinee most studies of these variables in human subjeets, whether retrospeetive or prospeetive, have failed to aeeount for the likely influenee of multiple faetors known to influenee pregnaney outeome and fetal development: for example, genetie and ethnie eharaeteristies of the mother, her age, height, prepregnaney weight, birth order, birth interval; age, height, and weight of the father, his ethnie and genetie influenee.…”

Intra-Uterine Starvation and Fetal Leucocyte Count

“…In addition to an impaired supply of nu trients causing reduced production of white cells, there may be impaired development of leucopoietic sites due to decreased periph eral perfusion, which is well described in hypoxaemic growth retardation [14,15], Supportive evidence for this hypothesis is provided by a post-mortem study, which demonstrated that in the SGA group, the thymus was smaller and the mass of haemopoietic tissue in the liver was reduced com pared to appropriately grown infants [ 16]. In growth-retarded fetuses that survive, im paired cell-mediated immunity may persist until at least the age of 5 years [17,18].…”

Antioxidant Nutrition and Immunity

“…These Tanzania findings are, or are likely to be, linked to LBW, prematurity, and intrauterine growth retardation and the causally associated effects of maternal nutrient deficits and infection. Infants born small are known to exhibit thymus atrophy and functional defects in innate and adaptive cellular and humoral immunity (76)(77)(78)(79)(80). Thus, they are born with a very limited structural and functional, i.e., immature, immune system.…”