Biomedical subjects

Millennium Cohort Study Child Health Group

Publications and source records attributed to Millennium Cohort Study Child Health Group.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Incomplete immunisation uptake in infancy: maternal reasons.

We examined uptake of primary immunisations in infancy and the reasons given by mothers for either incompletely or not immunising their infants. We used data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a cohort of 18,819 infants born between September 2000 and January 2002 in the UK. 95.6% infants were reported to be fully immunised, 3.3% partially immunised and 1.1% unimmunised. Mothers most frequently cited medical reasons (45%) for partial immunisation (n=697), but beliefs or attitudes (47%) for no immunisation (n=228). An understanding of maternal reasons for incomplete immunisation status may assist in identifying appropriate interventions to maximise uptake.

Attitude↗

PubMed2006

Use of personal child health records in the UK: findings from the millennium cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: The personal child health record (PCHR) is a record of a child's growth, development, and uptake of preventive health services, designed to enhance communication between parents and health professionals. We examined its use throughout the United Kingdom with respect to recording children's weight and measures of social disadvantage and infant health. DESIGN: Cross sectional survey within a cohort study. SETTING: UK. PARTICIPANTS: Mothers of 18,503 children born between 2000 and 2002, living in the UK at 9 months of age. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportion of mothers able to produce their child's PCHR; proportion of PCHRs consulted containing record of child's last weight; effective use of the PCHR (defined as production, consultation, and child's last weight recorded). RESULTS: In all, 16,917 (93%) mothers produced their child's PCHR and 15,138 (85%) mothers showed effective use of their child's PCHR. Last weight was recorded in 97% of PCHRs consulted. Effective use was less in children previously admitted to hospital, and, in association with factors reflecting social disadvantage, including residence in disadvantaged communities, young maternal age, large family size (four or more children; incidence rate ratio 0.87; 95% confidence interval 0.83 to 0.91), and lone parent status (0.88; 0.86 to 0.91). CONCLUSIONS: Use of the PCHR is lower by women living in disadvantaged circumstances, but overall the record is retained and used by a high proportion of all mothers throughout the UK in their child's first year of life. PCHR use is endorsed in the National Service Framework for Children and has potential benefits which extend beyond the direct care of individual children.

Body Weight↗

PubMed2006

Is infant growth changing?

Weight gain between birth and 9 months of 12 903 term Millennium Cohort Study infants was investigated in order to determine differences according to sex, ethnicity and country of birth. The standardised weights and weight gains were also compared with a cohort of mainly white infants born 10 years earlier to determine whether weight gain has changed over the last decade. There were significant differences between ethnic groups, with black infants showing the largest weight gain and Asians the smallest. White boys born in England and Scotland grew relatively faster than girls, but there were no significant gender differences among the other ethnic groups or among infants born in Ireland and Wales. There was very little difference in weight gain between white English Millennium cohort infants and the earlier cohort, suggesting that the current epidemic of childhood obesity starts after 9 months of age.

Asian People↗

PubMed2005

Factors affecting a mother's recall of her baby's birth weight.

BACKGROUND: The Millennium Cohort Study of UK babies born this century obtained maternal report of birth weight and data on the family's characteristics, including parental ethnicity, education, and social circumstances. Parental permission to link babies to their birth registration data provided the opportunity to investigate factors affecting accuracy of maternal recall of birth weight and to determine possible causes of error. METHODS: Logistic regression was used to investigate the relationship between maternal factors and recall of birth weight. Numerical and graphical methods were used to identify potential causes for birth weight discrepancies. RESULTS: Data were obtained from the birth registry and Millennium Cohort Study for 11 890 of the 14 294 cohort children born in England and Wales. Weight was reported in imperial units by 84% of mothers and this was more common in younger mothers. Accuracy within 100 g was 92% overall, varying from 94% among British/Irish white mothers to 69-89% for other ethnic groups and was lower among the long-term unemployed and those living in disadvantaged or ethnic wards. Explanations (mostly rounding and transcription errors) were identified for 27% of the discrepancies of 100 g or more. Conclusion Mothers' reports of their infants' birth weight showed high level of agreement with registration data, the mean discrepancy being consistently close to zero. However, the variance of the discrepancy differed according to ethnic group, ward type, and socioeconomic status. These sources of differential variability should be taken into account in analyses using birth weight, and possibly other reported data, from socially mixed populations.

Adult↗