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Abstract

THIS STUDY was undertaken to investigate the birth weights and feeding of Asian babies attending a health clinic in Southall, Middlesex. A total of 86 English, 145 Punjabi Indian, 31 Pakistani and 18 East African Asian infants were studied. The mean birth weights of English boys were higher than those of Punjabi boys (by 238 g) and than those of English girls (by 201 g). The mean heights of English mothers were greater than those of Punjabi (by 2 cm) and Pakistani mothers (by 4 cm). The East African Asian mothers were taller than Pakistani mothers (by 4 cm). There was no evidence of a relationship between maternal height and birth weight. A similar proportion of English boys and girls were breast fed (45% and 44% respect vely). In contrast rather more Punjabi boys (47%) than Punjabi girls (31%) were breast fed. The proportion of English boys and Punjabi boys who were breast fed was similar (45% and 47% respectively). The children came from predominantly social class III families. The results confirmed those of a previous study, that the ethnic groups studied tended towards the practices and behavioural patterns of the adopted society.

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Feeding Practices and Birth Weights of Infants in Southall,Middlesex

Abstract

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