Fronto-occipital Head Circumference Of Kenyan Infants Of African Origin Aged 0-12 Months Living In And Around Two major Towns In Kenya
Abstract
A cross sectional study to determine fronto-occipital
head circumference was done on 890 healthy Kenyan infants
of African origin living in and around the towns of Mombasa
and Nairobi. The mean head circumference at birth was 35.0
cm. (SD 1.1) for male and 34.4 cm. (SD 1.0) for female
infants. The mean increase in head circumference was 1.4cm.
per month in the first six months and 0.4 cm. per month
in the next six months for both sexes. The mean head
circumference for boys and girls in infancy compared
favourably with the practical composite international and
interracial graphs for boys and girls computed by NelIhaus (1)
from reports appearing in the world literature since 1948
to 1968. Boys had significantly larger head
circumference than girls (0.01 < P <0.05). There
was no statistical difference in head circumference
between infants of various tribal backgrounds in Kenya.
Citation
Masters of Medicine (Paediatrics)Publisher
University of Nairobi