A study of growth, morbidity and mortality among Eskimo infants of western Alaska.

One of the most serious problems affecting the American Eskimo is that of disease and death in infants. A study undertaken to inquire into the growth and development components and the nutritional components of this morbidity and mortality and to verify and amplify the inadequate health statistics relating to this group revealed an infant mortality rate 4 times that for the USA as a whole, with a 16% under-registration of infant deaths. The majority of infant deaths occurred in the post-neonatal period, with respiratory infections constituting the most frequent cause of morbidity and mortality. There was a significant inverse association between infant haemoglobin level and frequency of respiratory and total illness, providing one of the few specific epidemiological confirmations of a synergistic nutritional interaction between anaemia and infection.