Anthropometric Study of Dominican Pre-school Children

Summary Measurements of weight, height, and triceps skin-fold were taken in a cross-sectional survey from 250 children between 0.5 and 5 years of age living in a village in the Commonwealth of Dominica. The anthropometric data showed that these children were smaller compared to American and British standard growth charts, which is not caused by undernourishment, but due to a racial difference in stature. The Dominican children were larger than those in Jamaica, who are also of African ancestry, which can be explained by environmental factors and secular growth trend. The median duration of the breast- and bottle-feeding period has been calculated using survival analysis for censored data. In the higher socio-economical class the children seem to be breast fed a shorter time in comparison to the lower class, which is probably caused by regarding bottle feeding as a status symbol.