Plasma lipids and growth faltering: a longitudinal cohort study in rural Gambian children

Abstract

Growth faltering in children arises from metabolic and endocrine dysfunction driven by complex interactions between poor diet, persistent infections and immunopathology. Here, we determined the progression of the plasma lipidome among Gambian children and assessed its influence on growth faltering over the first 2 years of life using panel vector autoregression modelling. We further investigated temporal associations among lipid clusters. We observed that measures of stunting, wasting and underweight significantly influence each other, and that lipid groups containing PUFA and phosphatidylcholines significantly influence growth outcomes. Linear growth was influenced by the majority of lipids, indicating a higher nutritional demand to improve height compared to weight among growth-restricted children. Our results indicate a critical role for PUFAs and choline in early life dietary interventions to combat the child growth faltering still so prevalent in low-income settings.