Vahid Alinejad

Background: Childhood has coincided with a rapid growth and development and growth impairment (GI) of this period lead to lifelong problems. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the factors affecting the growth impairment of children under ۶ years of age in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran.Methods: This prospective-longitudinal study was conducted on ۱۰۷۰ neonates from the cities and urban health centers in the West Azerbaijan province, Iran. Studied neonates were randomly selected in a two-stage cluster sampling. During a ۶-year follow-up, children’s characteristics of growth (height, weight) and development (walking, speaking and teething age) were measured and recorded. Data were collected by R statistical software and analyzed by using the transfer and marginal transfer models.Results: The results of the models' fitting showed that the main effect of the maternal educational level [elementary (p = ۰.۰۰۷) and high school (p = ۰.۰۰۳)], child's gender (p <۰.۰۰۱), child’s health care (p <۰.۰۰۱), the first age of the teething (p =۰.۰۳۱) and walking (p =۰.۰۲۱) had significant effect on GI.Conclusion: The research results showed that with increasing the age of teething, the odds ratio of the GI decreases. Also, every one-month increase in walking age was associated with decreasing odds ratio of GI. Moreover, the present study revealed that some demographic factors have a significant effect on children's GI. Early detection of the factors affecting child GI and primary prevention of its adverse effects is recommended.

Child growth impairment, growth and development, transfer model, marginal transfer model