American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 53, 963-970, Copyright © 1991 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Relationships between growth and acute lower-respiratory infections in children aged less than 5 y in a highland population of Papua New Guinea

TA Smith, D Lehmann, C Coakley, V Spooner and MP Alpers
Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Eastern Highlands Province.

One hundred fifty-six children in the highlands of Papua New Guinea aged less than 5 y, studied for a total of 7019 child-weeks, had an incidence of 1.3 episodes per child-year of acute lower-respiratory- tract infections (ALRIs). There was a marked age trend with an incidence of almost three times this average for children aged less than 6 mo. Those with low weight-for-age or low height-for-age had a higher ALRI incidence rate, with no evidence of cutoffs above which nutritional status had no effect; there was no association between low weight-for-height and increased risk of ALRI. A slow weight gain was not a significant risk factor in the short term but weight gain was reduced during episodes of ALRI.

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