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Child undernutrition is a major public health problem in low income countries. Prospective studies of predictors of infant growth in rural low-income country settings are relatively scarce but vital to guide intervention efforts.

A population-based sample of 1065 women in the third trimester of pregnancy was recruited from the demographic surveillance site (DSS) in Butajira, south-central Ethiopia, and followed up until the infants were one year of age. After standardising infant weight and length using the 2006 WHO child growth standard, a cut-off of two standard deviations below the mean defined the prevalence of stunting (length-for-age <-2), underweight (weight-for-age <-2) and wasting (weight-for-length <-2).

The prevalence of infant undernutrition was high at 6 months (21.7% underweight …