PEDIATRICS Vol. 106 No. 5 November 2000, p. e73
ELECTRONIC ARTICLE:
Growth Pattern of Breastfed and Nonbreastfed Infants With Atopic
Dermatitis in the First Year of Life
Received Feb 28, 2000; accepted Jul 3, 2000.
,
From the * Department of Pediatrics, San Paolo Hospital, Milan,
Italy; and the
Department of Informative Systems, University of
Milan, Milan, Italy.
Objective. The growth of infants with atopic dermatitis (AD) has been poorly investigated based on the early type of feeding. The aim of this study was to assess the growth pattern of AD infants during the first 12 months of life in comparison to healthy infants, according to the early type of feeding (breastfed or nonbreastfed).
Methods. Fifty-five term AD infants (36 breastfed and 19 nonbreastfed) and 114 term healthy infants (58 breastfed and 56 nonbreastfed) were evaluated by standardized growth indices (z scores; National Center for Health Statistics-World Health Organization data) through the first 12 months of life.
Results. No difference was found between AD and healthy
groups at birth. In AD infants, weight (WA) and length (LA)
z scores decreased with age and were significantly
lower, compared with healthy infants from the second month of age
onward. The difference of mean z scores between AD and
healthy infants at 12 months of age was
.69 (95% confidence interval
[CI]:
1.00 to
.38) for WA and
.67 (95% CI:
.98 to
.36) for
LA. The growth pattern of AD infants was not influenced by the early
type of feeding, whereas in the 6- to 12-month period, the delay in
growth was more pronounced in patients with more severe
dermatitis.
Conclusions. In the first year of life, AD infants show a progressive impairment in growth irrespective of the early type of feeding. The severity of disease may be an independent factor negatively influencing growth. Key words: atopic dermatitis, breastfeeding, food allergy, formula-feeding, infant growth.
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