Bolton Kristy A, Kremer Peter, Laws Rachel, Campbell Karen J, Zheng Miaobing
Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Centre for Sport Research, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
BMJ Open. 2021 Feb 16;11(2):e041148. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041148.
Chinese immigrants are the third largest immigrant group in Australia. Little is known about growth trajectories of their offspring when moving to a Western country. The aim was to describe the growth trajectories between birth to 3.5 years in children of Chinese-born immigrant mothers compared with Australian-born mothers living in Victoria, Australia.
Ten nurse measured weights and lengths from birth to 3.5 years were used to examine growth trajectory using linear spline multilevel models. Five knot points were identified at visit 2 (0.5 months), visit 4 (2 months), visit 5 (4.5 months), visit 8 (18 months) and visit 9 (25 months).
Ethnic disparities in growth trajectories between these two groups were revealed in models adjusted for birth weight, sex and level of socioeconomic disadvantage. Children of Chinese-born compared with Australian-born mothers revealed different growth rates and significant differences in predicted mean body mass index Z score (zBMI) at all time points from birth to 44 months, except for 12 months. Specifically, when compared with children of Australian-born mothers, children of Chinese-born mothers started with lower predicted zBMI from birth until 0.5 months, had a higher zBMI from 1 to 8 months and a lower zBMI from 12 to 44 months. Early and sharp acceleration of growth was also observed for children of Chinese-born mothers (0.5-2 months) when compared with children of Australian-born mothers (2-18 months).
Differences in growth trajectories exist between young children of Chinese-born and Australian-born mothers. Better understanding of these ethnically patterned growth trajectories is important for identifying key opportunities to promote healthy growth in early life.
中国移民是澳大利亚第三大移民群体。对于他们的后代移居到西方国家后的生长轨迹，人们了解甚少。本研究旨在描述在澳大利亚维多利亚州出生的中国移民母亲的子女与澳大利亚本土母亲的子女从出生到3.5岁的生长轨迹。
利用线性样条多级模型，采用10名护士测量的从出生到3.5岁的体重和身长数据来研究生长轨迹。在第2次访视（0.5个月）、第4次访视（2个月）、第5次访视（4.5个月）、第8次访视（18个月）和第9次访视（25个月）时确定了5个节点。
在对出生体重、性别和社会经济劣势水平进行调整的模型中，揭示了这两组人群生长轨迹的种族差异。与澳大利亚本土母亲的子女相比，出生在中国的母亲的子女在从出生到44个月的所有时间点上，除了12个月时，显示出不同的生长速度和预测平均体重指数Z评分（zBMI）的显著差异。具体而言，与澳大利亚本土母亲的子女相比，出生在中国的母亲的子女从出生到0.5个月的预测zBMI较低，1至8个月时zBMI较高，12至44个月时zBMI较低。与澳大利亚本土母亲的子女（2至18个月）相比，出生在中国的母亲的子女在早期（0.5至2个月）也观察到生长的早期和急剧加速。
出生在中国的母亲和澳大利亚本土母亲的幼儿在生长轨迹上存在差异。更好地理解这些具有种族特征的生长轨迹对于确定促进早期健康生长的关键机会很重要。
