Peer-reviewed article
Dietary intake, nutritional status and healthcare characteristics of mothers and newborn infants in a prospective cohort study (CHAMP) from a malnutrition-endemic region of Pakistan.
Shahzad M, Saidal A, Ismail M, Tariq K, Melhem AL et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001The CHAMP study collected baseline data from 70 mothers and 72 newborn infants in rural Pakistan to understand how maternal nutrition, healthcare access, and infant gut microbiome affect child growth. Families were extremely poor with minimal education and income. Mothers received poor-quality antenatal care and had diets lacking dietary diversity, while nearly half of infants experienced diarrhea or respiratory infections. About one-third of newborns showed stunting, with higher rates among girls, and only 43% were exclusively breastfed.
Key points
- None of the mothers met recommended minimum dietary diversity, indicating severe dietary quality problems
- Maternal antenatal and postnatal healthcare utilization was suboptimal with limited completion of recommended visits
- 35.4% of infants showed low length-for-age, with higher prevalence among female infants
- Nearly half of infants experienced diarrheal illness or respiratory infections
- Exclusive breastfeeding was reported in only 43.1% of infants
Limitations
This is a baseline descriptive study from a single rural district in Pakistan, so findings may not represent other regions or urban areas. The study does not yet provide evidence of causal relationships or intervention effectiveness, as longitudinal analyses are planned for future reporting.
Abstract
Background Dietary intake, nutritional status, healthcare access, and early-life exposures play a critical role in shaping infant growth and development. Recent evidence suggests that the impact is largely mediated by gut microbiome. The Child Health, Nutrition and Microbiome in Pakistan (the CHAMP study) is a longitudinal cohort study aiming to assess the bidirectional relationship between gut microbiome and infant growth and development in a cohort of children residing in malnutrition endemic areas of Pakistan. Objectives The current study report the baseline sociodemographic, dietary, healthcare, and nutritional characteristics of mother-infant dyads participating in the CHAMP study. Methods Baseline data were collected from 70 mothers and 72 newborn infants recruited from rural communities in District Swat, Pakistan. Information on household socioeconomic status, maternal dietary intake, antenatal, delivery and postnatal care, infant feeding practices, morbidity, and anthropometric measurements was obtained using validated tools. Descriptive and sex-stratified analyses were conducted. Results Households were socioeconomically disadvantaged, with low parental education, large family size, and mean household income substantially below the national minimum wage. Maternal utilization and quality of antenatal and postnatal care were suboptimal, including limited completion of recommended antenatal visits. Dietary quality was also poor, and none of the mothers met the recommended minimum dietary diversity for women. Among infants, morbidity was common, with nearly half experiencing diarrheal illness or respiratory infections. Exclusive breastfeeding reported only in 43.1% of infants. Anthropometric assessment revealed evidence of early growth faltering, with 35.4% of infants were low-length-for-age with higher prevalence among females. Conclusion These baseline findings highlight substantial socioeconomic vulnerability, poor maternal diet quality, gaps in maternal and infant healthcare, and early-life undernutrition in this rural Pakistani cohort. The study finding provides foundation for longitudinal analyses examining how these factors interact with gut microbiome development and child growth, informing and cost effective and culturally relevant intervention strategies.