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. 2017 Jan;139(1):e20162034.
doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-2034. Epub 2016 Dec 13.

Trends in Weight-for-Length Among Infants in WIC From 2000 to 2014

David S Freedman  1 , Andrea J Sharma  2   3 , Heather C Hamner  4 , Liping Pan  4 , Anthony Panzera  5 , Ray B Smith  4 , Heidi M Blanck  4   3
Affiliations

Trends in Weight-for-Length Among Infants in WIC From 2000 to 2014

David S Freedman et al. Pediatrics. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the prevalence and secular trends of high weight-for-length among infants (ages, 3-23 months) in the biennial US Department of Agriculture Women, Infants, and Children Program and Participants Characteristic (WIC-PC) Survey from 2000 through 2014 (n = 16 927 120).

Methods: Weight-for-length was considered to be "high" if it was ≥2 SDs above the sex- and age-specific median in the World Health Organization growth standards. Poisson regression was used to calculate adjusted prevalence ratios.

Results: The overall prevalence of high weight-for-length increased from 13.4% in 2000 to 14.5% in 2004, remained constant until 2010, and then decreased by >2 percentage points (to 12.3%) through 2014. The prevalence of high weight-for-length was associated with sex (higher among boys), race-ethnicity (highest among American Indians/Alaskan Natives), and with both age (positive) and family income (inverse). The secular trends, however, were fairly similar within categories of these variables. From 2010 to 2014, the prevalence of high weight-for-length decreased in 40 states and 3 (of 5) US territories, with the largest decreases seen in Puerto Rico (-9 percentage points) and Kentucky (-7 percentage points), and the largest increase (+2 percentage points) seen in West Virginia.

Conclusions: Although the current results cannot be considered representative of infants in the populations, the prevalence of a high weight-for-length has decreased among infants in WIC-PC since 2010. These decreases were similar across categories of most characteristics, but there were substantial differences across jurisdictions, possibly reflecting differences in policy and local programs that target maternal and infant health.

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Conflict of interest statement

POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Prevalence of high weight-for-length among infants in the WIC-PC survey by year. The overall and age group–specific estimates are shown.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Prevalence of high weight-for-length among infants in the WIC-PC survey by race-ethnicity and percent of poverty. Children who were missing information on relative income or race-ethnicity have been excluded.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Adjusted (for race, sex, and age) changes in the prevalence of high weight-for-length from 2010 through 2014, by state or territory, among infants in the WIC-PC survey. AS, American Samoa; GU, Guam; PR, Puerto Rico.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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