Relation between maternal anthropometry and infant visual recognition memory in southern Ethiopia

Type Thesis

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Scope and method of study. Infant visual recognition memory, a measure of attention, memory and information processing speed, predicts IQ, language and vocabulary. This study examined relationship between infant visual recognition memory and maternal anthropometry. Visual memory was assessed using a videotaped novelty preference paradigm. One-hundred infants 6-8 months of age in Ethiopia were presented with graphic stimuli. Duration of looks and shifts in looks between stimuli were coded from the tape by two independent teams and novelty preference was determined. Sixty-nine infants completed at least three novelty preference trials. Weights and heights of infants' mothers were collected, and their BMI was calculated. Relationship between maternal anthropometry and infant novelty preference measures were analyzed using correlations, ANOVA, and regression. Findings and conclusions. Maternal height is positively correlated with infant weight-for-age z-score (r=0.207, p=0.039), infant length-for-age z-score (r=0.366, p=0.000), infant head circumference (r=0.199, p=0.048), and infant head circumference z-score (r=0.225, p=0.025). Statistical analysis did not show any consistent relationship between maternal anthropometry and infant novelty preference variables. Although maternal height and infant anthropometric measures were correlated, maternal anthropometry cannot be used as a predictor of infant novelty preference. This study is a part of a project funded by NIH grant #NIH 5 R21 TW006729.