Santé publique France is France’s national public health agency. A public institution of the State under the supervision of the Minister of Health, resulting from the merger of several public institutions and created by Ordinance 2016-246 of April 15, 2016, the agency works to promote public health. As an agency dedicated to scientific research, expertise, and public health safety, its missions include:

1. Epidemiological observation and surveillance of the population’s health status;
2. Monitoring health risks threatening the population;
3. Promoting health and reducing health risks;
4. Developing prevention and health education;
5. Preparation for and response to health threats, alerts, and crises;
6. Issuing public health alerts.

The agency is organized around 12 divisions—some scientific, some cross-functional, and others providing operational support.

The agency’s strategic priorities and work program, established by its Board of Directors, are organized into three areas: Strengthening the capacity for anticipation and rapid response to health threats; Measuring and assessing the extent of diseases and risk factors to guide their prevention and control; Strengthening the health impact of all public policies and the prevention and promotion of health.

Directorate of Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries - Perinatal, Early Childhood, and Mental Health Unit (UPEPS)

Internship Responsibilities

• The intern will compare the medians and percentiles of growth measures by sex and feeding method at different ages of the child, then analyze growth trajectories to estimate the effect of feeding method using a longitudinal mixed-effects model. This analysis will account for potential biases related to differences among the study populations (e.g., socioeconomic status, cultural factors influencing breastfeeding practices) to isolate the specific effect of feeding method.
• If the trajectories differ, the intern may be asked to model growth curves by sex and feeding method using the GAMLSS package in R (also used for the growth charts in the health record).

Internship Activities

• Literature Search and Analysis
• Develop an analysis plan
• Conducting statistical analyses to fulfill the internship’s objectives
• Scientific dissemination: depending on the progress of the internship, dissemination in the form of a peer-reviewed scientific article and/or a conference abstract is encouraged

Objective of the Internship

• The primary objective of this internship is to evaluate the influence of infant feeding practices on infant growth (height, weight, head circumference) during the first months of life, distinguishing between effects by sex. The goal is to determine whether the current growth charts in the health record—which are not specific to feeding method—remain appropriate, or whether differentiated growth charts would be more relevant for optimal monitoring; if so, to model them.