Background: Feeding methods used during infancy may impact upon eating behaviors in toddlers and influence the likelihood of developing weight issues. The aim of this study was to compare eating behaviors and food neophobia (defined as the reluctance to eat, or the avoidance of, new foods) in toddlers between three different complementary feeding…

The purpose of the study was to evaluate fine- and gross-motor development and basic cognitive skills in 3-18 month-olds in relation to home factors, age and weight. Three hundred and seventy mother-child dyads were recruited. For age, two groups were analyzed: 3-11 months and 12-18 months. Motor and basic cognitive skills were assessed using the…

This study tested the association between multiple prenatal and postnatal early life factors and adolescent sexual orientation in a longitudinal birth cohort. Factors included birth weight, gestational age, parental age at birth, number of older brothers and sisters, breastfeeding, maternal anxiety/depression, family socioeconomic position,…

The present study explored cultural differences in parental beliefs about motor development across 2 Western cultures: Israel and the Netherlands. Can 2 cultural models be distinguished regarding infant motor development in Israel and the Netherlands or are parental beliefs about motor development similar across these cultures? Using a…

Purpose: This study was designed to (a) identify sociodemographic, pregnancy and birth, family health, and parenting and child care risk factors for being a late talker at 24 months of age; (b) determine whether late talkers continue to have low vocabulary at 48 months; and (c) investigate whether being a late talker plays a unique role in…

The importance of warm and democratic parenting styles for optimal social, emotional and cognitive outcomes in children over the age of five is well established. However, there is a dearth of literature exploring variations in parenting styles during infancy, despite many popular parenting books aimed at this period. The primary aim of this study…

Aim: To investigate the relation between head growth at different periods and IQ at 8 years, and to identify factors associated with more rapid head growth. Method: Two parallel cohorts of term low birthweight (LBW) and appropriate birthweight (ABW) infants were enrolled at birth in northeast Brazil. Anthropometric measurements were made at birth,…

Background: Postpartum period is associated with higher rates for depression, blues and psychosis. Anxiety is also significant. These disorders may have serious implications in the cognitive development of the infant. There is relative lack of data in this area. So we tried to estimate postpartum anxiety and depression in a group of women and…

Research has shown a strong connection between birth weight and future outcomes. We ask how health problems after birth affect outcomes using data from public health insurance records for 50,000 children born between 1979 and 1987 in the Canadian province of Manitoba. We compare children to siblings born an average of three years apart. We find…

Objective: To examine the relative contributions of maternal characteristics and behaviors in predicting infant weight gain over the first year of postpartum life. Design: Longitudinal study of maternal feeding style throughout infancy. Setting: A Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children center. Participants:…

Data from nearly 30,000 pregnant and third decade (20-29 years) mothers show that small infant size among teenage mothers is consistent with the mother's size and not directly related to early age at conception. Third decade mothers of comparable size give birth to infants with essentially the same characteristics and problems. (Author/GC)

Based on findings that report differences between cries of normal and clinically abnormal infants, this study examined the relationship between birthweight and behavioral and acoustic features of neonatal cry because of the long-standing association between birthweight, perinatal trauma, and subsequent development. Subjects were 88 neonates…

The mental and psychomotor development of 35 severely malnourished infants in Chile were examined during nutritional and psychological treatment. There was a significant difference between younger and older infants in their response to the treatment. (Author/DLS)

This paper presents normative data on height, weight, and body mass in a birth cohort studied prospectively from birth to the age of 7 years. Data are presented by gender and race. The cohort was meant to be representative of the St. Louis metropolitan area in that it included poor people's children, and especially black children who had rarely…

The authors used the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence (J. F. Fagan, L. T. Singer, J. E. Montie, & P. A. Shepherd, 1986) to examine preferences for novelty and to evaluate several indicators of attention (off- and on-task indexes and durations) in 6- and 9-month-old infants who had been prenatally exposed to cigarette smoke only or to cocaine plus…