Poor maternal anthropometric status before conception is associated with a deleterious infant growth during the first year of life: a longitudinal preconceptional cohort.

Background: According to the Developmental Origins of Health and Diseases concept, exposures in the preconception period may be critical. For the first time, we evaluated the effect of preconception poor anthropometric status on infant's growth in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: A mother-child cohort was followed prospectively from preconception to 1 year old in Benin.