Vitamin B-6 status of Egyptian mothers: relation to infant behavior and maternal-infant interactions.
1990
McCullough A.L. | Kirksey A. | Wachs T.D. | McCabe G.P. | Bassily N.S. | Bishry Z. | Galal O.M. | Harrison G.G. | Jerome N.W.
Functional consequences of marginal maternal vitamin B-6 status for behavior of the neonate and for mother-infant interactions at age 3-6 mo were assessed by a double-blind procedure. In 27 of 70 Egyptian village women studied, vitamin B-6 concentration of their milk was considered indicative of poor maternal vitamin B-6 nutriture. Neonatal behavior, quantified by the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale, showed that consolability, appropriate build-up to a crying state, and response to aversive stimuli were significantly correlated with maternal vitamin B-6 nutriture. Naturalistic observational procedures, used twice monthly with infants aged 3-6 mo, indicated that mothers assessed as having marginal vitamin B-6 status were less responsive to their infants' vocalizations, showed less effective intervention to infant distress and were more likely to use older siblings as caregivers than were mothers of better vitamin status. We conclude that vitamin B-6 was a factor influencing both the behavior of the mother and her infant.
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