Reference values for height and weight in Prader-Willi syndrome based on 315 patients

The spontaneous growth of 315 patients (109 girls and 208 boys) with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) was analysed in a mixed longitudinal and cross-sectional manner. 33 patients were seen in the department between 1970 and 1994; height and weight of 76 patients from Germany were evaluated by means of a questionnaire with detailed measuring instructions, and 206 definite cases were added from the literature. Mean ( SD) length of newborn babies with PWS was 50.2+/-2.8 cm (145 boys) and 48.9 3.3 cm (79 girls). Mean weight at birth was 2945 570 g in boys and 2782+/-594 g in girls. During the 1st year, the children's growth was nearly normal, thereafter short stature was present in approximately 50% of PWS patients. Between 3 and 13 years of age, the 50th percentile for height in PWS is roughly identical with the 3rd percentile in healthy controls. Body weight was normal for all boys and girls during the first 2 years. Thereafter, a rapid weight gain occurred; after an age of 10 years weight-for-height index in nearly all patients exceeded the normal range. The extent of pubertal growth was reduced for the group. Mean adult height was 161.6+/-8.1 cm (23 males) and 150.2+/-5.5 cm (21 females). Head circumference for age was normal for boys and girls. CONCLUSION: Reference data on spontaneous development of growth and weight gain of children with Prader-Willi syndrome are described allowing a better counselling of patients and parents.     

Target position variability throughout prostate radiotherapy

OBJECTIVE: It was our objective to evaluate the association between early maternal weight gain (before 20 weeks), midpregnancy weight gain (20-28 weeks), and late pregnancy weight gain (28 weeks to birth) with fetal growth and birth weight in twins. STUDY DESIGN: This historic cohort study was based on 1564 births of live twins >/=28 weeks' gestation from Baltimore, Maryland, Miami, Florida, Charleston, South Carolina, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. RESULTS: Early fetal growth was affected only by smoking and chorionicity. Factors in models of both mid and late fetal growth included maternal age, pregravid weight, parity, rates of early pregnancy and midpregnancy maternal weight gain, smoking, and pre-eclampsia. Increased midpregnancy fetal growth was associated with early maternal weight gain (10.91 g/wk per pound per week) and midpregnancy maternal weight gain (15.89 g/wk per pound per week). Increased late fetal growth was associated with early maternal weight gain (16.86 g/wk per pound per week) and midpregnancy maternal weight gain (23.88 g/wk per pound per week). Increased birth weight was associated with early (283.02 g per pound per week), mid (163.58 g per pound per week), and late (69.76 g per pound per week) maternal weight gains. CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm the importance of early maternal weight gain in twin fetal growth and birth weight.     

Size at birth, maternal nutritional status in pregnancy, and blood pressure at age 17: population based analysis

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of size at birth, maternal nutrition, and body mass index on blood pressure in late adolescence. DESIGN: Population based analysis of birth weight corrected for gestational age, mother's weight before pregnancy and weight gain in pregnancy, obtained from the Jerusalem perinatal study, and blood pressure and body mass index at age 17, available from military draft records. SETTING: Jerusalem, Israel. SUBJECTS: 10,883 subjects (6684 men and 4199 women) born in Jerusalem during 1974-6 and subsequently drafted to the army. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Systolic and diastolic blood pressures measured at age 17 and their correlation with birth weight, size at birth, mother's body mass index and weight gain during pregnancy, and height and weight at age 17. RESULTS: Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly and positively correlated with body weight, height, body mass index at age 17, and with mother's body weight and body mass index before pregnancy, but not with birth weight or mother's weight gain in pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Variables reflecting poor intrauterine nutrition, including low maternal body mass index before pregnancy, poor maternal weight gain in pregnancy, and being born small for gestational age, were not associated with a higher blood pressure in late adolescence.     

Longitudinal assessment of growth in children born to mothers with human immunodeficiency virus infection

OBJECTIVES: To describe and to evaluate the longitudinal growth of children born to mothers with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. DESIGN: Measurements of weight, length (measured in infants in a recumbent position) and height (measured in older children in an upright position), and head circumference were documented and evaluated longitudinally using generalized estimating equations in a group of children born to HIV-infected mothers. Children infected with HIV were compared with uninfected children and with National Center for Health Statistics standards. SETTING: Primary care clinic in an urban hospital devoted to the medical care of children born to HIV-infected mothers. PATIENTS: One hundred nine children born to HIV-infected mothers, 59 HIV-infected and 50 uninfected, between birth and 70 months of age. RESULTS: The mean birth weights of both groups were below the 50th percentile. While the mean weight-for-age curve of uninfected children attained the 50th percentile by age 24 months, the mean birth weight-for-age curve of HIV-infected children remained below the 50th percentile. Weight gain became significantly different between the two groups by age 36 months. The mean birth length-for-age curves of HIV-infected and uninfected children was also below the 50th percentile. The mean height-for-age curve of uninfected children attained the 50th percentile by age 40 months, while that of HIV-infected children remained well below the 50th percentile. Linear growth between HIV-infected and uninfected children diverged earlier than weight, becoming significantly different by age 15 months. CONCLUSIONS: Although children born to HIV-infected mothers are born with weight and length below the 50th percentile, uninfected children catch up, while HIV-infected children remain below the 50th percentile and experience an earlier and more pronounced decrease in linear growth (height-for-age) than in weight-for-age.     

The interrelationships between facial areas and other body dimensions

The data from 35 premenarchial Gujarati, Hindu girls, selected at random, in the age range of 120 months to 144 months were collected to find out statistically the nature and the values of correlation coefficients among various facial areas and other body dimensions such as body weight, stature, chronological and skeletal ages. The correlation coefficients between skeletal, chronological, height and weight ages ranged from 0.413 to 0.8105 showing moderately high association. Height and weight ages turned out to be the most reliable indicators of growth and development of facial areas in this age group and the chronological age as in ineffectual indicator of the same. Maxillary and mandibular areas showed a high value of correlation coefficients (0.67) while the orbitoethmoidal area did not show any correlation with any age variables or with other facial areas. The mandibular areas showed the highest correlation with weight age (0.63) and lowest with chronological age (0.431). The maxillary area showed highest correlation with chronological age (0.62) and lowest with skeletal age (0.42). Fifteen empirical formulae have been developed by which average value of facial areas could be predicted from the other variables.     

Combined effect of short stature and socioeconomic status on body mass index and weight gain during reproductive age in Brazilian women

Short stature, a marker for undernutrition early in life, has been associated with obesity in Brazilian women, but not in men. We tested the hypothesis that weight gain during the reproductive years could explain this gender difference. A national two-stage household survey of mothers with one or more children under five years of age was conducted in Brazil in 1996. The subjects were women aged 20 to 45 years (N = 2297), with last delivery seven months or more prior to the interview. The regions of the country were divided into rural, North/Northeast (urban underdeveloped) and South/Southeast/Midwest (urban developed). The dependent variables were current body mass index (BMI) measured, BMI prior to childbearing (reported), and BMI change. Socioeconomic variables included mother's years of education and family purchasing power score. A secondary analysis was restricted to primiparous women. The prevalence of current overweight and overweight prior to childbearing (BMI > or = 25 kg/m2) was higher among shorter women (<1.50 m) compared to normal stature women only in the urban developed region (P < 0.05). After adjustment for socioeconomic variables, age, parity, BMI prior to childbearing, and age at first birth, current BMI was 2.39 units higher (P = 0.008) for short stature women living in the urban developed area compared with short stature women living in the urban underdeveloped area. For both multiparous and primiparous women, BMI gain compared to the value prior to childbearing was significantly higher among short stature women living in the urban developed region (P <= 0.04). These results provide clear evidence that short stature was associated with a higher BMI and with an increased risk of weight gain/retention with pregnancy in the developed areas of Brazil, but not in the underdeveloped ones.     

Catch-up growth during childhood among very low-birth-weight children

OBJECTIVES: To examine growth attainment and correlates of catch-up growth at 8 years of age in a cohort of very low-birth-weight (VLBW) children (< 1500 g), including appropriate and small-for-gestational-age children, and to compare their growth with normal-birth-weight (NBW) children. DESIGN: Eight-year longitudinal follow-up of a cohort of VLBW children. A geographically based, randomly selected sample of NBW children was recruited at 8 years of age. SETTING: Tertiary perinatal center. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred forty-nine VLBW children born between January 1, 1977, and December 31, 1979 (78% of survivors), of whom 199 were born appropriate for gestational age and 50 were small for gestational age (< -2 SD). The NBW population included 363 children. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: For the VLBW population, rates of subnormal weight (below the third percentile) and height were obtained at birth, at 40 weeks (term), and at 8 and 20 months. For the VLBW and NBW populations, mean weight, height, and percentile distribution at 8 years were derived from the National Center for Health Statistics standards. RESULTS: Catch-up growth to above the third percentile occurred between 40 weeks and 8 months, 8 and 20 months, and up to 8 years of age among the VLBW children. At 40 weeks, 54% were subnormal in weight and 60% were subnormal in height; at 8 months, 33% and 22%, respectively, and at 8 years, 8% were subnormal in weight and height. Small-for-gestational-age children had lower rates of catch-up growth. Multivariate analyses disclosed maternal height, race, birth weight, and neurologic abnormality to predict percentile distribution of height; and maternal height, small for gestational age, and neurologic abnormality to predict subnormal height. CONCLUSIONS: Catch-up growth occurs during childhood among VLBW children. These results have implications when counseling parents about the potential growth attainment of their children.     

Rapid somatic growth after birth in children with neuroblastoma: A survey of 1718 patients with childhood cancer in Kyushu-Okinawa district

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of somatic growth from birth through diagnosis with the development of childhood cancer. METHODS: The weights and heights of 1718 children with cancers were determined and converted into standard deviation (SD) scores, both at birth and at diagnosis, by using the means and SD values of the general population. RESULTS: Among patients with neuroblastoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the percentages of children with body weight and height over mean + 2 SDs were significantly higher at diagnosis than the expected value in the general population. The percentage of children with neuroblastoma and body weight over mean + 2 SD increased significantly from birth through diagnosis (P =.04). Although the medians of weight SD scores decreased from birth through diagnosis in patients with representative cancers except for neuroblastoma, the value significantly increased in patients with neuroblastoma diagnosed before 1 year of age (P =.03), especially in those whose cancer was detected by mass screening at 6 months of age (P <.01). CONCLUSIONS: Rapid somatic growth from birth through diagnosis in patients with neuroblastoma diagnosed before 1 year of age suggests a possible involvement of certain growth factors in these patients.     

Current standards for body height and weight of Swiss children and adolescents 4 to 19 1/2 years old (Geneva 1972)]

New tables have recently been published containing (1) the usual percentiles of body weight and stature in each of the successive 6 months age groups, (2) two different age independent estimates of weight percentiles related to height, and (3) 50%, 80%, and 95% contours for the bivariate joint distribution of height and weight in each age group. All of the tables and charts are given for boys and girls separately. In view of the randomness of the sampling and the characteristic heterogeneity of the population concerned, these new normal limits may be declared valid not only for the entire Swiss area, but even for adjacent regions.     

Natural killer cell receptors specific for MHC class I molecules

The aim of this study was to describe serum GH, IGF-I, and IGF binding protein (BP) 3 levels at birth and during the first 2 y of life in intrauterine growth-retarded (IUGR) children and to correlate these hormonal values with auxologic parameters noted during this period to investigate their predictive value on the postnatal growth pattern. Three hundred and seventeen children were included at birth and studied for auxologic and biologic parameters at birth, 3 and 30 d, and 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 mo of age. At birth, when analyzed according to gestational age, serum GH levels were increased (p = 0.0001) and serum IGF-I and IGFBP3 levels were decreased (p = 0.0001) in IUGR as compared with normal neonates. When two cohorts were established at birth as a function of the ponderal index (PI) (< or = or > 3rd percentile), serum IGF-I and IGFBP3 levels were found to be significantly reduced in the case of low PI. All parameters were within normal limits at 1 mo of age and remained normal thereafter. During the first 3 mo of life, a positive correlation was found between IGF-I increment and weight gain (r = 0.28, p = 0.002). None of the biologic parameters at birth were predictive either of later growth or of short stature at 2 y of age. In conclusion, low serum IGF-I and IGFBP3 levels at birth were related to fetal malnutrition and were not predictive parameters for later growth.     

Cloning and characterization of a mouse homologue (mNthl1) of Escherichia coli endonuclease III

The association patterns between maternal anthropometric characteristics (stature, prepregnancy weight, prepregnancy body mass index, pregnancy weight gain) and newborn size (birth weight, length, head circumference) were tested with 10,240 single births taking place between 1985 and 1995 in Vienna, Austria, and 3,452 single births taking place between 1989 and 1995 in Westerstede-Ammerland (Friesland), northern Germany. Maternal size and newborn size differed highly significantly (p < 0.001) between the two genetically and socioeconomically different population groups. Furthermore, the incidence of macrosomia among newborns (birth weight greater than 4000 g) was extraordinarily high (17.9%) in the Frisian group from northern Germany. In both populations taller and heavier women with a higher weight gain during pregnancy gave birth to heavier offspring. Nevertheless, the pregnancy weight gain, which indicates environmental conditions of the mother, had only a minor impact on newborn size compared with stature and prepregnancy weight, which reflect the maternal genetic potential to a higher degree.     

International traffic in coca through the early 20th century

This study was carried out to examine the biological and environmental variables associated with non-organic short stature. We observed an unselected population of very short normal children (SN) and their age- and sex-matched controls (C) within the community. All 14,346 children in two health districts entering school during 2 consecutive years were screened for short stature, and those whose height lay below the 3rd centile, according to Tanner and Whitehouse standards (n = 180) were identified. Excluding 32 with pathology, five from ethnic minorities and three who refused to take part, the remaining SN children (mean height SDS-2.26) were matched with 140 age- and sex-matched controls (C) of average height (mean height SDs 0.14). Birth weight, target height and predicted adult height (based on parental height and bone age respectively), medical and social background (obtained from parental interviews), and school performance (assessed by class teachers) were the main outcome measures. Mean birth weight of the SN children was significantly lower than C (SN = 2845 g, C = 3337 g, P < 0.001). Mean mid-parental target height was also very different (SN = 162.0 cm, C = 170.9 cm, P < 0.001). Thirty-five per cent of SN children (C = 6%) had height SD scores below parental target range, though only 10% had predicted heights below target range (mean delay in bone age 0.68 years). There was a significant difference between SN children and C in the number of children in the household (SN = 2.8, C = 2.4 (P = 0.007) and in socio-economic status (P < 0.002). Many more SN children were in social classes IV and V (SN = 31%, C = 13%, P < 0.002), and had an unemployed father (SN = 22%, C = 10%, P < 0.010), highlighting the importance of environmental influences on growth. One in four SN children was judged to have serious psychosocial problems. However, the lower the socio-economic class, the less likely the SN children were to be inappropriately short for parents. Significantly more SN children were reported to have asthma (SN = 18%, C = 7%, P < 0.007) and eczema (SN = 19%, C = 5%, P < 0.001), though only the latter was significantly associated with stature below target height for both SN and C groups. Biological variables are often insufficient to explain short stature. No child, whatever the parental height, should be dismissed as normal without careful evaluation, as poor growth in the early years may be an important pointer to an adverse but potentially remediable environment.     

The treatment with biosynthetic growth hormone (GH) of familial short stature

The effect of growth hormone (GH) treatment in non-GH deficient subjects has been amply studied over the past few years. Although the results of these studies are encouraging, there are still no definitive data since the findings are not comparable due to the different characteristics of the populations examined. In the present study the authors examined the following parameters: stature, height SDS, growth rate, bone age and final height prediction according to Tanner, pubertal stage, before and after treatment with biosynthetic GH at a dose of 1.4 IU/kg of bodyweight for 12 months. The population treated consisted of 10 subjects (5 males and 5 females) aged between 7.3 and 9.5 years old, all prepubertal, with "familial short stature", selected according to the following criteria: stature below the 3rd centile, normal growth rate, normal GH response to stimuli using clonidine and insulin, correlation with parental stature between 25th and 75th centile, bone age correlated to chronological age, absence of other pathologies. After 12 months height SDS moved from -2.75 +/- 0.26 to -2.23 +/- 0.25 (p < 0.5); the growth rate changed from 5.75 +/- 0.63 to 6.66 +/- 0.56 (p < 0.05). No abnormal acceleration of bone age as observed: it moved from 8.2 +/- 0.62 to 9.5 +/- 0.72; all subjects continued to be prepubertal. The expected final stature changed from 154 +/- 2.38 to 159 +/- 0.7 (p < 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Growth impairment in very low birthweight children at 12 years: correlation with perinatal and outcome variables

AIM: To compare the growth of very low birthweight (VLBW) children in early adolescence with that of their normal birthweight peers; to examine the role of factors contributing to growth-parental height, perinatal variables, bone maturity and sexual maturation; to examine the correlation between head growth and cognitive and educational outcome. METHODS: Standing and sitting heights, weight, occipito-frontal circumference (OFC), skinfold thicknesses and pubertal staging were assessed in 137 VLBW children and 160 controls at 11-13.5 years of age. Ninety six (70%) of the VLBW children had their bone age assessed using the TW2 method. Reported parental heights were obtained by questionnaire. All children had standardised tests of cognitive and educational ability. Perinatal data had been collected prospectively as part of a longitudinal study. RESULTS: VLBW children had lower heights, weight, and OFC. Skinfold thicknesses were no different. The children's short stature was not accounted for by difference in parental height, degree of pubertal development, or by retarded bone age. Indeed, the TW2 RUS score was significantly advanced in the VLBW children. Using the bone ages to predict final adult height, 17% have a predicted height below the third centile and 33% below the tenth. Weight was appropriate for height, but there was a residual deficiency in OFC measurements after taking height into account. In the VLBW group smaller head size was associated with lower IQ and mathematics and reading scores. CONCLUSIONS: Growth problems persist in VLBW children and final heights may be even more abnormal than present heights suggest. VLBW children have smaller OFCs than expected from their short stature alone and this may be associated with poorer educational and cognitive outcomes.     

Use of mivacurium in orthopedic surgery: comparison of 2 different-dose inductions

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the postnatal growth of full-term infants with fetal growth retardation (FGR) syndrome and their subgroups (disproportionate and proportionate) after six months of delivery. METHODS: This is a prospective follow-up study of 200 full-term gestations. We compare 100 FGRs (34 cases of FGR-disproportionate and 66 FGR-proportionate) infants against 100 normal infants/controls. At the sixth months of postnatal life, the infants were subjected to a standard paediatric evaluation and examination. RESULTS: At the sixth months of postnatal life, the infant weight was 7.183 g +/- 727 in the FGR group vs. 8.019 g +/- 823 in the control group, p < 0.001. 31% of FGR infants were found under the 10th percentile value as read for the 6th months standard, whereas the same value was detected in only 3% of control infants, p < 0.001. Likewise, 38% of FGR cases were under the 10th percentile of height versus 7% of control cases, p < 0.001. Proportionate FGR infants showed a higher increase of height in comparison to those from a disproportionate group (17.3 cm +/- 1.4 vs. 15.5 cm +/- 3.4, p < 0.05). A negative correlation was found between neonatal ponderal index (NPI) and weight gain (R = -0.16, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Six months after delivery, weight and height were lower in FGR infants than in controls. At that age, disproportionate and proportionate FGR infants had similar weight and height, being the height catch-up more significant in proportionate ones.     

High-dose growth hormone treatment of short children born small for gestational age

The effect of GH administration was evaluated over 2 yr in 50 short, prepubertal, non-GH deficient children born small for gestational age, who had been randomly allocated to a group receiving no treatment or daily sc GH treatment at a dose of 0.2 or 0.3 IU/kg. At the start of the study, mean age was 5.2 yr, bone age was 4.0 yr, height SDS was -3.5, height velocity SDS was -0.8, weight SDS was -2.7, and body mass index SDS was -1.9. Catch-up growth was observed in none of the untreated and all of the treated children. The response to GH treatment included a near doubling of growth velocity and of weight gain and a mean height increment of more than 2 SDS. GH treatment was associated with a distinct acceleration of bone maturation. The differences between the growth responses evoked by the two GH doses were minor. The prepubertal GH-induced catch-up growth was associated with elevated serum concentrations of insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3, and osteocalcin, whereas insulin-like growth factor-II levels remained unaltered. GH treatment was well tolerated. In conclusion, high-dose GH administration over 2 yr is emerging as a potential therapy to increase the short stature that results from insufficient catch-up growth in young children born small for gestational age. The long-term impact of this approach remains to be delineated.     

Risk of uterine leiomyomata among premenopausal women in relation to body size and cigarette smoking

Growth acceleration and bone maturation were studied for 3 y in 69 children with severe short stature and a history of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), to determine the effect of treatment with recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH). The patients were enrolled in an open, multicentre trial and were randomly allocated to either the treated group (Group 1) or the control group (Group 2). The children in Group 1 were treated daily with 0.2 IU/kg/body weight (0.067 mg/kg) s.c., during 3 y and the children in Group 2 started the study with a 1-y observation period followed by a 3-y treatment period. At birth, their mean weight standard deviation score (SDS) was -2.5 and their mean length SDS -3.5. At baseline, the patients were prepubertal, non-GH deficient, with no known dysmorphic features. Mean age was 4.5 y, bone age was 3.3 y, height SDS was -3.4, height velocity (HV) SDS was -1.6, and body mass index SDS was -1.4. After 1 y of treatment, linear HV in Group 1 increased in comparison with the pre-treatment period (from 5.7 +/- 2.0 to 10.1 +/- 1.7 cm/y; p < 0.001) and with the first year of observation in Group 2 (p < 0.001). Increased HV was sustained during the second and third year of treatment and was significantly higher than at baseline. A similar growth pattern was seen during the 3 y of GH treatment in Group 2. Mean height SDS for chronological age increased by 2.0 +/- 0.7 in the two groups after 3 y of treatment. HV after 1 y of treatment was negatively correlated with growth velocity at baseline. Bone age remained retarded but increased with a mean of almost 4 y after 3 y of treatment in both groups. Even at a dose that is three times the replacement dose treatment with r-hGH was well tolerated. From these results, we conclude that r-hGH treatment over 3 y can induce sustained catch-up growth in young children with severe short stature and a history of IUGR. Long-term studies are needed to assess ultimate effects on final height.     

Cadmium suppresses apoptosis induced by chromium

Influence of intrapair differences in birth weight (IDBW) on the patterns of postnatal growth of MZ and DZ twins from middle/late childhood to adolescence were studied in 49 MZ, 40 DZ male and 40 MZ, 35 DZ female pairs coming from the Wroc?aw Longitudinal Twins Study. Intrapair differences in the patterns in postnatal growth were expressed in several indices: average differences in standardized values (ASD Height, ASD Weight); absolute average differences in standardized values (ABSD Height, ABSD Weight); average Euclidean distances coefficient (EUCD Height, EUCD Weight); coefficient of shape differences (SHC Height, SHC Weight); measure of deviation (MD Height, MD Weight) and correlation coefficient for the standardized attained values (CORC Height, CORC Weight). Relationships between IDBW and indices were based on the means of Spearman Rank Order Correlation. Additionally for 40 MZ, 35 DZ male and 25 MZ, 18 DZ female pairs, the relationships between IDBW and intrapair differences in biological parameters derived from Preece Baines model 1, describing differences in time (DT1), height (DH1), velocity (DV1) at the beginning of the adolescent growth spurt, differences in time (DT2), height (DH2), velocity (DV2) at peak height velocity and differences in adult height (DAH) were examined. The results showed that only in MZ girls did dissimilarity in birth weights significantly impair the subsequent growth in stature. Furthermore, the results revealed that birth weight influences the parameter describing adult stature in MZ girls. It is concluded that the lack of relationship in DZ twins is due to their unique genotype, which strongly determines the postnatal growth. Three possible interpretations are given as explanations of the results obtained in this study: male excess neonates mortality, 'third factor' and programmed of growth in utero.     

Effects of feeding level on growth, composition of gain, carcass quality and mature body size in steers at ages up to six years

Tissue gain and efficiency and carcass characteristics of seventy-eight Angus steers were compared on three feed intake regimens and serially slaughtered at 6 months to 6 years. The regimens were: (A) continuous ad ad libitum feeding, (B) restricted to gain about 0.45 kg daily and (C) restricted as in B until 6 months before slaughter then fed ad libitum. Steers, regardless of feeding regimen, made their greatest gains up to 12 months of age and became less efficient after that time. Steers fed ad libitum had the highest percentage of fat but the lowest percentage of lean and bone when compared with steers fed for restricted gain. Carcasses of the steers fed ad libitum contained more lean and fat at each slaughter age. Average daily gain, feed efficiency and percentage of lean and bone decreased with age; and feed intake, slaughter grade, dressing percent, taste panel desirability and percent of fat tended to increase with age. All steers reached their maximum growth in height at withers, depth of chest and length of body at about 3 years. Steers that were restricted up to 6 months before slaughter showed compensatory growth during their ad libitum feeding period and during the first 12 months of the study; protein and fat were produced most efficiently by this growth. It would appear that it is possible to modify fat deposition by changing feed intake level.     

The effect of vitamin A supplementation on the growth of preschool children in the Sudan

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the effect of vitamin A supplementation at 6-month intervals on child growth. METHODS: Sudanese children (n = 28,740) 6 to 72 months of age were weighed and measured at baseline and at each of three follow-up visits. RESULTS: Periodic vitamin A supplementation had no effect on the rate of weight or height gain in the total population or on the incidence of wasting, stunting, or wasting and stunting among children who were normally nourished at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Reducing poverty and improving access to adequate diets should remain the goals of programs designed to improve the nutritional status of malnourished populations.