Subsequent pregnancy affects nutritional status of previous child: a study from Bhutan

Bøhler, Erik; Singey, J; Bergström, Staffan

doi:10.1111/j.1651-2227.1995.tb13678.x

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The mechanisms for this are not fully understood, but they presumably include factors other than the termination of breast-feeding alone. Previous data in the same study population also indicate that a subsequent pregnancy causes a concomitant reduction in rate of weight gain of the previous child (Bohler, Singey & Bergstrom, 1995).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Subsequent pregnancy affects morbidity of previous child

Bøhler

Bergström

1995

J. Biosoc. Sci.

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A prospective study of 113 children in rural Bhutan registered their morbidity and weight and their mothers' subsequent pregnancies, monthly for 32 months during the children's first 3 years of life. Children whose mothers had a subsequent birth interval of 18-30 months had an incidence of diarrhoea during the subsequent pregnancy 50% higher than their matched cohort whose mothers did not become pregnant (/>=0-02). The relative risk for diarrhoea calculated from pooled child months was 1-51. Children whose mothers became pregnant also tended to have a higher incidence of skin infections.Children, whose mothers were pregnant when they terminated breastfeeding, experienced an increased incidence of diarrhoea around weaning (/7=001). Children weaned at the same age from non-pregnant mothers did not show increased morbidity.This study, for the first time, relates observations of children's morbidity directly in time to the occurrence of the mother's subsequent pregnancy, and provides evidence of a causal relationship between a moderately short subsequent birth interval and a concurrent increase in morbidity for the study child.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Subsequent pregnancy affects morbidity of previous child

Bøhler

Bergström

1995

J. Biosoc. Sci.

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“…A pair of studies in Bhutan (one of which was a follow‐up to the first study) also examined subsequent birth interval (Bøhler et al . 1995; Bøhler 1996).…”

Section: Specific Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although neither showed a significant association with child growth status in the prospective cohort analyses, this may have been due to lack of statistical power, as the sample sizes were <100 in both cases. In the first study, when the children were <36 months of age (Bøhler et al . 1995), the investigators contrasted the growth of children of mothers who were pregnant again with that of children whose mothers were not pregnant at the time of the measurements.…”

Section: Specific Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does birth spacing affect maternal or child nutritional status? A systematic literature review

Dewey

Cohen

2007

Maternal & Child Nutrition

210

180

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This review addresses the question of whether a short birth interval is associated with adverse nutritional outcomes for the mother or the child. Indices of anthropometric status (maternal weight or body mass index; child growth) and micronutrient status (e.g. iron or vitamin A) were included as outcomes. A computerized search of all relevant papers published since 1966 was completed, and the 'snowball' method was used to identify additional relevant published or unpublished papers. In total, 57 papers were found to contain data regarding the relationship between birth spacing and nutritional outcomes (35 for child nutrition, 11 for maternal anthropometric status, and 11 for maternal anaemia or micronutrient status). Of these, 23 papers were excluded from further consideration because they did not include any multivariate analysis, leaving 34 papers that met the criteria for the review (22 for child nutrition, eight for maternal anthropometric status, and four for maternal anaemia or micronutrient status). The studies on child nutrition outcomes indicate that a longer birth interval is associated with a lower risk of malnutrition in some populations, but not all. In those countries in which the relationship was significant, the reduction in stunting associated with a previous birth interval >or=36 months ranged from approximately 10% to 50%. Some of this reduction may be due to residual confounding, i.e. to factors not included in the analysis (such as breastfeeding and maternal height). The studies on maternal anthropometric outcomes yielded mixed results. Because the nutritional burden on the mother between pregnancies depends on the extent of breastfeeding, the interpregnancy interval is not the best measure of whether the mother has had a chance to recover from the pregnancy, in terms of repleting her nutritional status. Therefore, some studies examined the 'recuperative interval' (duration of the non-pregnant, non-lactating interval) instead. Taken as a whole, the studies do not provide clear evidence of a link between interpregnancy or recuperative interval and maternal anthropometric status. This may be due, in part, to changes in the hormonal regulation of nutrient partitioning between the mother and the fetus when a mother is malnourished. Only four papers were identified that related to micronutrient status, three of which examined maternal anaemia. One study showed an increased risk for maternal anaemia when the interpregnancy interval was <6 months, but the analysis did not control for iron supplementation during pregnancy. The other two studies did not show a significant association between interpregnancy interval and maternal anaemia. One study of micronutrient status indicated no significant relationship between interpregnancy interval and maternal serum zinc, copper, magnesium, ferritin, folate or thyroid-stimulating hormone. Important methodological limitations were apparent in most of the studies. Thus, further research with more comprehensive control of potentially confounding variables is needed.

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“…The 43 children who were selected in this way are hereafter referred to as the "non-pregnancy-associated (NPA) group". The distribution of socio-economic and demographic parameters in the two groups have been described previously (4).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Subsequent pregnancy affects nutritional status of previous child: a study from Bhutan

Cited by 9 publications

References 17 publications

Subsequent pregnancy affects morbidity of previous child

Subsequent pregnancy affects morbidity of previous child

Does birth spacing affect maternal or child nutritional status? A systematic literature review

Short subsequent‐birth interval does not affect previous child's nutritional status in the fifth year of life

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