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A systematic review of lay views about infant size and growth

A systematic review of lay views about infant size and growth
A systematic review of lay views about infant size and growth
OBJECTIVES: To understand lay views on infant size and growth and their implications for a British population. METHODS: A systematic review of parental and other lay views about the meanings and importance of infant size and growth using Medline, PsycInfo, CINAHL, Sociological Abstracts, IBSS, ASSIA, British Nursing Index ChildData, Caredata, SIGLE, Dissertation Abstracts (US), Index to Theses. 19 studies, most of which reported the views of mothers, from the US, Canada, the UK and Finland were reviewed. RESULTS: Notions of healthy size and growth were dominated by the concept of normality. Participants created norms by assessing and comparing size and growth against several reference points. When size or growth differed from these norms, explanations were sought for factors that would account for this difference. When no plausible explanation could be found, growth or size became a worry for parents. CONCLUSIONS: Parents consider the importance of contextual factors when judging what is appropriate or healthy growth. For public health advice to be effective, lay, as well as scientific, findings and values need to be considere.
parents, body size, health, growth, research, psychology, abstract, mothers, child development, reference values, infant, review, diagnosis, methods, finland, humans, size, public health, failure to thrive, attitude to health, anthropometry
0003-9888
120-127
Lucas, P.
a02ba1be-82df-43c2-8ae7-5d06cda888a7
Arai, L.
814f93a0-306d-4e98-bd82-730c14b6d082
Baird, J.
f4bf2039-6118-436f-ab69-df8b4d17f824
Kleijnen, J.
821234a8-6811-460c-b87a-70a937acc83d
Law, C.
51672f57-903e-4307-bf8a-da56a300d66d
Roberts, H.
5ea688b1-ef7a-4173-9da0-26290e18f253
Lucas, P.
a02ba1be-82df-43c2-8ae7-5d06cda888a7
Arai, L.
814f93a0-306d-4e98-bd82-730c14b6d082
Baird, J.
f4bf2039-6118-436f-ab69-df8b4d17f824
Kleijnen, J.
821234a8-6811-460c-b87a-70a937acc83d
Law, C.
51672f57-903e-4307-bf8a-da56a300d66d
Roberts, H.
5ea688b1-ef7a-4173-9da0-26290e18f253

Lucas, P., Arai, L., Baird, J., Kleijnen, J., Law, C. and Roberts, H. (2007) A systematic review of lay views about infant size and growth. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 92 (2), 120-127. (doi:10.1136/adc.2005.087288).

Record type: Article

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To understand lay views on infant size and growth and their implications for a British population. METHODS: A systematic review of parental and other lay views about the meanings and importance of infant size and growth using Medline, PsycInfo, CINAHL, Sociological Abstracts, IBSS, ASSIA, British Nursing Index ChildData, Caredata, SIGLE, Dissertation Abstracts (US), Index to Theses. 19 studies, most of which reported the views of mothers, from the US, Canada, the UK and Finland were reviewed. RESULTS: Notions of healthy size and growth were dominated by the concept of normality. Participants created norms by assessing and comparing size and growth against several reference points. When size or growth differed from these norms, explanations were sought for factors that would account for this difference. When no plausible explanation could be found, growth or size became a worry for parents. CONCLUSIONS: Parents consider the importance of contextual factors when judging what is appropriate or healthy growth. For public health advice to be effective, lay, as well as scientific, findings and values need to be considere.

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More information

Published date: February 2007
Keywords: parents, body size, health, growth, research, psychology, abstract, mothers, child development, reference values, infant, review, diagnosis, methods, finland, humans, size, public health, failure to thrive, attitude to health, anthropometry

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 61341
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/61341
ISSN: 0003-9888
PURE UUID: fff9e50d-eb37-4163-9ecc-ecdd02fe3513
ORCID for J. Baird: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4039-4361
ORCID for H. Roberts: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5291-1880

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 03 Sep 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:30

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Contributors

Author: P. Lucas
Author: L. Arai
Author: J. Baird ORCID iD
Author: J. Kleijnen
Author: C. Law
Author: H. Roberts ORCID iD

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