Girls tend to have a lower risk of stunting than boys do in low-income countries. We evaluated differences in height status and complementary food (CF) intake between sexes from ages 2 to 39 mo in Senegal. Length and weight measurements were taken at ages 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-10 mo ( = 7319). Qualitative 24-h and 7-d food recalls were conducted in a subgroup ( = 2512). A smaller subsample was followed up to age 39 mo ( = 512). Height was measured, and intake of CF was noted. Boys and girls were compared in terms of height-for-age score (HAZ) of WHO standards and National Center for Health Statistics growth reference, height-for-age difference, stunting, and consumption of CF by using chi-square tests, general linear models, and mixed-effects linear models (MLMs). By using WHO standards, the mean HAZ was lower for boys than for girls in infancy, i.e., at 2-3 mo of age (-0.65 compared with -0.57; = 0.002) and beyond, i.e., at 24-29 mo of age (-2.01 compared with -1.65; < 0.001). Overall risk of stunting was 24.5% and 19.4% for boys and girls, respectively, during infancy ( < 0.001) compared with 59.2% and 47.9%, respectively, at 12-39 mo ( = 0.010). In MLMs from ages 2 to 39 mo, boys had a lower mean HAZ than girls had at age 2 mo (β = -0.19; = 0.035), and sex differences increased with increasing age (β = -0.007 scores/mo; < 0.001). At 2-3 mo of age, boys were more likely to have been fed CF every day during the past week (15.8% compared with 11.2% for girls; = 0.005) and to have eaten ≥2 meals in the past 24 h (13.4% compared with 8.2% for girls; < 0.001). In Senegalese infants, CF intake differed by sex, with boys more likely to consume CF. Boys had lower HAZs than girls had during infancy, and sex differences increased up to age 39 mo. The importance of sex in complementary feeding and growth warrants further attention in low-income countries.

Several studies have shown an association between an infant and young child feeding index (ICFI) and height-for-age Z-score (HAZ) in Latin America and Africa. A previous study was unable to reproduce these findings in 500 rural Senegalese 12-42-mo-old children. The relationship of ICFI, dietary diversity index (DDI), food variety index (FVI), meal frequency index (MFI), and breastfeeding (BF) to HAZ and growth in height/length over 6 mo was studied in 1060 6-36-mo-old Senegalese children during 2 visits. List-based food frequencies were recalled for the past 24 h, and height/length and weight measurements were taken. Indicators were transformed into tertiles in age-specific subgroups. DDI, FVI, MFI, and ICFI were poorly concordant across visits at all ages (weighted κ: 0.02-0.25). In cross-sectional analyses that pooled children from the 2 visits, HAZ was positively associated with DDI and FVI at 6-12, 12-18, and 18-24 mo and with ICFI at 6-12 and 18-24 mo (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively) but was negatively associated with BF at 12-18, 18-24, and 24-30 mo. The length increment between visits was positively associated with MFI and ICFI, measured during the first visit in 18-24-mo-olds (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively) but not with DDI, FVI, or BF at any age. In conclusion, ICFI, DDI, and FVI were associated with HAZ, particularly during infancy, whereas no indicator was associated with linear growth in this age group. Therefore, the strong association between HAZ and ICFI during infancy may be partly due to maternal adaptation to infant clues, i.e., greater appetite for and interest in non-breast-milk foods among taller infants.

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, preschool children represent the population most vulnerable to malaria and malnutrition. It is widely recognized that malnutrition compromises the immune function, resulting in higher risk of infection. However, very few studies have investigated the relationship between malaria, malnutrition and specific immunity. In the present study, the anti-Plasmodium falciparum IgG antibody (Ab) response was evaluated in children according to the type of malnutrition.

Moderate-severe lipodystrophy affected one third of West African patients on long-term HAART and was associated with a less favorable metabolic profile.