Insufficient weight gain under 3 years is associated with short stature in school-aged children

Abstract

Purpose: If children show inadequate infant weight gain, their growth velocity will also decrease, especially £3 years of age. We hypothesized that such children may not only lead to being underweight but also short stature during childhood, and this trend will follow them through adolescence. Methods: A total of 271 children were enrolled. The Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to determine the relationships of the increment of weight gain £3 years, from birth to 1.6 years and from 1.6 years to 3 years of age, with height and weight at 3, 7 years and pubertal age, respectively. Results: The Pearson correlation coefficients between weight gain each of from birth to 1.6 years and from 1.6 years to 3 years of age and weight at pubertal age were 0.34 and 0.37 in boys and 0.47 and 0.48 in girls, and height at pubertal age were 0.34 and 0.24 in boys and 0.65 and 0.40 in girls, respectively. Conclusions: Insufficient weight gain in children £3 years, especially £1.6 years is not only associated being underweight, but also short stature at 3 and 7 years and at the onset of puberty and it is also suspected that adult height and weight may be affected.

Nutritional status and dietary diversity of pregnant and nonpregnant reproductive‐age Rohingya women

“…The short stature among the Rohingya women can be constitutional or may be a reflection of chronic food insecurity during childhood (Schmeer & Piperata, 2017 ; Weigel et al, 2016 ). Prior works revealed that insufficient weight gain during early childhood correlates with shorter height in later life (Koyama et al, 2022 ). Short stature may lead to complications during pregnancy (Sohlberg et al, 2012 ).…”