The relationship between maternal anthropometric measures and infant growth was examined with bivariate regression techniques. Twenty-eight healthy exclusively breast-feeding mothers and their infants from La Paz, Bolivia were studied. Infant weight gain between 3 and 6 months was significantly positively correlated with maternal arm circumference (r2 = 26 per cent) and weight/height (r2 = 21 per cent) measured at 34 weeks of pregnancy. Infant weight gain was also significantly positively correlated with the same maternal measurements taken at three months post-partum (r2 = 23 per cent and r2 = 21 per cent, respectively). Infant length gain between 3 and 6 months was significantly positively correlated with maternal arm circumference, (r2 = 16 per cent) and weight/height (r2 = 15 per cent) measured at 3 months post-partum. Multivariate regression using multiple measures did not improve the correlations with infant growth.
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Novotny et al. (1987) studied this question.