Weight and weight gain at 4 months (The Netherlands 1998): influences of nutritional practices, socio-economic and ethnic factors.

We describe the determinants of weight gain in the first 4 months of life in a cohort of 3256 infants. The study was designed as a survey with follow-up. In the period 1 April to 1 July 1998, all infants, usually 4 weeks old but not older than 4 months, brought to a well-baby clinic for the first time were included.

Reluctance to continue breastfeeding in The Netherlands.

Unlabelled: A prospective cohort study of breastfeeding practice (0-4 mo) was carried out in well-baby clinics. The cohort included 4438 newborns brought to a clinic for the first time between 1 April and 1 July 1998. The odds ratios of demographic and gestational variables connected with the start and duration of breastfeeding were measured.

Maternal smoking during lactation: relation to growth during the first year of life in a Dutch birth cohort.

A recent article by Little et al. (Am J Epidemiol 1994;140:544-54) reported that infants in Seattle, Washington, who were breastfed by mothers who smoked gained more weight than either infants who were breastfed by mothers who did not smoke or infants who were bottle-fed by mothers who smoked. In this study, the authors aimed to verify this result with the use of data from the Social Medical Survey of Children Attending Child Health Clinics (SMOCC) cohort, a nationally representative cohort of 2,151 children born in the Netherlands in 1988-1989.

Paroxysmal phenomena in the first two years of life.

The prevalence of paroxysmal phenomena in the first two years of life was assessed in 1854 children of Dutch-speaking mothers of a population-based birth cohort. At each visit to the Child Health Clinic (CHC), mothers were asked whether they had noted sudden change of consciousness, involuntary movements, deviation of the eyes or apnoea, and if so, whether these appeared to be related to feeding. Paroxysmal episodes occurred in a quarter of the children: in 8 per cent only in relation to feeding, in 19 per cent also not related to feeding.

Growth in length and weight from birth to 2 years of a representative sample of Netherlands children (born in 1988-89) related to socioeconomic status and other background characteristics.

Of nearly 1900 live-born singletons, born from April 1988 to October 1989 inclusive, nine measurements of length and weight have been taken between the ages of 1 and 24 months. In the first part of the study, differences in attained length and weight at 1 and 2 years of age are analysed according to socioeconomic status (SES). Multiple regression analyses are used to investigate the association of SES and other background characteristics with length and weight.

[Use of health care services by children in the first 2 years of life in The Netherlands].

Objective: To assess consumption of medical care for infants and toddlers provided by general practitioners and specialists, and of hospital admissions for young children.

Design: Descriptive.

Setting: Dutch Child Health Clinics (CHC).

[The significance of convulsion-like signs in the first 2 years of life].

Objective: Assessment of the prevalence of convulsion-like symptoms in 1854 children of Dutch-speaking mothers of a population-based birth cohort.

Method: At each child health clinic (CHC) visit mothers were asked whether they had noted any of the following signs: loss of consciousness, involuntary movements, eye rotation movements and apnoea, and if so, whether these appeared to be related to feeding. Registration was done by the CHC physician during eight consultations.

Social class, ethnicity and other risk factors for small for gestational age and preterm delivery in The Netherlands.

Social class and ethnicity are important risk factors for small-for-gestational-age and preterm delivery in many countries. This study was performed to assess whether this is also the case in the Netherlands, a country with a high level of social security, relatively small income differences and easy access to medical care for all its inhabitants. Other risk factors that were taken into account were smoking, drinking, occupation, age and height.

[Relationship between socioeconomic status and differences in health care utilization in pregnancy, delivery and puerperium].

Objective: Description of differences in pre-, peri- and postnatal care, according to socio-economic status (SES).

Setting: Geographically defined areas of 21 child health clinics (CHC) in several parts of the Netherlands.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

[Congenital disorders in the first year of life].

Objective: Assessment of the prevalence of congenital malformations in a population-based birth cohort of 2151 children.

Method: Information about congenital malformations was obtained of 2092 infants by the Child Health Clinic nurses and by the CHC physician during six consultations in the first year of life.

Results: In 29% of the infants a congenital malformation was diagnosed.

Medication use during pregnancy in relation to maternal characteristics.

We studied the relationship between (potentially harmful) medication use during pregnancy and maternal characteristics (alcohol drinking, smoking, occupation, age, native language, education level) in a population-based study of 2060 women, who were delivered of infants in the catchment areas of 21 participating Child Health Clinics in The Netherlands between 1988 to 1989. Of all women, 23% reported the use of at least one drug. We could not confirm the hypothesis that women who engage in "risk-taking" behaviour during pregnancy, such as drinking and smoking, use more drugs while pregnant.

[National testis registration].

In order to gain an impression of the documentation of the testes position in the first few days after delivery an inquiry was held among all clinical paediatricians. The response was 62%. Figure I shows where the localisation of the testes is registered systematically and where it is not.