Poor early growth and high salt intake in Indian infants |
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| Authors: | Simonetta Genovesi Laura Antolini Antonina Orlando Sujit Brahmochary Alessandra De Servi Silvia Capelli |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca and Nephrology Unit, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy;2. Department of Cardiovascular Neural and Metabolic Sciences, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy;3. Department of Medicine and Surgery, Centre of Biostatistics for Clinical Epidemiology University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy;4. Institute for Indian Mother and Child (IIMC), Kolkata, India;5. Project for People, Milan, Italy |
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| Abstract: | The influence of feeding patterns on the growth of infants and how salt is included in the diet are unknown in the area of West Bengal, India. A cross-sectional study was carried on 517 infants (median age 6.5 months). Negative Z-scores were observed for all anthropometric parameters. About 72.7% of infants aged 0–6 months received exclusive breastfeeding. In the 6–12-month-old group (n?=?235), 91.5% had salt added to foods. In a regression model adjusted for age, a low salt diet resulted a significant factor in increasing weight-for-length and BMI for age z-scores, with increments equal to 0.637 SD (p?=?0.037) and 0.650 SD (p?=?0.036), respectively.In West Bengal infants showing poor growth, breastfeeding was associated with better anthropometric indexes, but early in life salt is added to their diet. Early life low weight coupled with high salt intake may be a risk factor for arterial hypertension in Indian children. |
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| Keywords: | Infant growth nutrition hypertension salt India |
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