association between early childhood stunting and weight status in late adolescence

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity 2007-02, Vol.31 (2), p.347-352
• Main Authors: Walker, S.P, Chang, S.M, Powell, C.A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adiposity; adolescence; Adolescents; Age; anthropometric measurements; Anthropometry; Biological and medical sciences; Body Constitution; Body fat; Body Height; Body Mass Index; boys; Child development; child nutrition; Children; Cross-sectional studies; Enrollments; Epidemiology; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gender differences; girls; Growth; Growth Disorders - physiopathology; Growth Disorders - therapy; growth retardation; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; height; Humans; incidence; Infant; Internal Medicine; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Neighborhoods; Nutrition; Obesity; original-article; Overweight; Prospective Studies; Public Health; skinfold thickness; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; visceral fat; waist-to-hip ratio
• ISSN: 0307-0565; 1476-5497
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0803383

Background: Cross-sectional studies have shown associations between stunting and overweight; however, there are few prospective studies of stunted children. Objectives: To determine whether stunting before age 2 years is associated with overweight and central adiposity at 17-18 years and whether growth in height among stunted children predicts body mass index (BMI) in late adolescence. Design: Prospective cohort study. Participants: One-hundred and three participants stunted by age 2 years and 64 non-stunted participants (78% of participants enrolled in childhood). Participants were measured in early childhood and at ages 7, 11 and 17 years. Results: Stunted subjects remained shorter and had lower BMIs, smaller skinfolds and circumferences than non-stunted subjects. Overweight (BMI greater than or equal to 25 m2) was not significantly different among stunted and non-stunted male subjects (5.2 and 12.5%) but non-stunted female subjects were more likely to be overweight than those who experienced early childhood stunting (11.1 and 34.4%, P=0.013). Centralization of fat (waist to hip ratio (WHR), subscapular/triceps skinfold ratio (SSF/TSF)) did not differ between stunted and non-stunted groups (mean WHR 0.77 and mean SSF/TSF 1.18 in both groups). Stunted subjects with greater increases in height-for-age for the intervals 3-7 and 7-11 years had higher BMI at age 17 years (P=0.04 and P=0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Participants stunted by age 2 years were less likely to be overweight than those who were never stunted. This suggests that cross-sectional studies of the association between stunting and overweight may be misleading. Among stunted children, greater linear growth during mid- to late childhood was associated with greater BMI at age 17 years.