Periods of child growth up to age 8 years in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam: Key distal household and community factors

Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated some growth recovery among children stunted in infancy. Less is known about key age ranges for such growth recovery, and what factors are correlates with this growth. This study characterized child growth up to age 1 year, and from ages 1 to 5 and 5 to 8 years controlling for initial height-for-age z-score (HAZ), and identified key distal household and community factors associated with these growth measures using longitudinal data on 7,266 children in the Young Lives (YL) study in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. HAZ at about age 1 year and age in months predicted much of the variation in HAZ at age 5 years, but 40 to 71% was not predicted. Similarly, HAZ at age 5 years and age in months did not predict 26 to 47% of variation in HAZ at 8 years. Multiple regression analysis suggests that parental schooling, consumption, and mothers’ height are key correlates of HAZ at about age 1 and also are associated with unpredicted change in HAZ from ages 1 to 5 and 5 to 8 years, given initial HAZ. These results underline the importance of a child’s starting point in infancy in determining his or her growth, point to key distal household and community factors that may determine early growth in early life and subsequent growth recovery and growth failure, and indicate that these factors vary some by country, urban/rural designation, and child sex.

Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations between Household Food Security and Child Anthropometry at Ages 5 and 8 Years in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam

“…Other measures included community wealth [measured by indices of asset ownership, housing quality, and service access for other YL households in the same communities (39,40)], monetary value of all household expenditures in the preceding 2 wk (household consumption), whether interviewed in a food-scarce month, maternal ages, maternal heights, maternal schooling, paternal schooling, and child ages and sex. In an analysis of associations of age 5 y food security with age 8 y anthropometry, we controlled for age 5 y anthropometry to isolate associations of food security with growth at age 8 y that were not acting through growth at age 5 y.…”

Evidence of Impact of Interventions on Growth and Development during Early and Middle Childhood

“…Population averages from crosssectional data show some limited catch-up in height-forage z scores, though average height deficits widen beyond age two years into adulthood (Leroy and others 2014;Lundeen and others 2014). Longitudinal studies report considerable individual movements in both directions between stunted and nonstunted status after age 24 months that are associated with family and community characteristics, suggesting potential for catch-up or prevention of faltering Lundeen and others 2013;Mani 2012;Prentice and others 2013;Schott and others 2013). Catch-up may, however, have some risks; for example, weight gain on small frames has been associated with subsequent obesity and adult chronic diseases (Monteiro and Victora 2005;Yajnik 2004Yajnik , 2009.…”

Linear growth trajectories in Zimbabwean infants

“…Although there is a wide variation between countries, 11–16% of newborns in developing countries are born with low birth weight (LBW) (i.e., birth weight <2500 g), and 27% of newborns are small for gestational age (SGA), which is defined as being <10th percentile in weight for infant gestational age and sex (6, 7). Infants who are born small show increased risk of stunting during infancy (5, 8–16). Analyses of cross-sectional data from 54 countries have shown that the mean LAZ in Africa and Asia is below the WHO standard median at birth and progressively declines through 24 mo of age with little to no recovery thereafter (17).…”