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Worldwide timing of growth faltering: implications for nutritional interventions
R Shrimpton1, C G Victora, M de Onis
1Nutrition Unit, UNICEF, New York, New York, USA.
Insights
Growth faltering in infants begins around 3 months, impacting weight and height. Early life interventions are crucial to prevent growth failure and ensure healthy child development.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Global Health
- Child Nutrition
Background:
- Growth faltering is commonly assumed to begin around 3 months of age.
- Previous assessments lacked systematic analysis of representative national data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically assess the timing of growth faltering using global data.
- To analyze growth patterns in children under 60 months.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the World Health Organization Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition.
- Analyzed 39 nationally representative datasets from developing countries.
- Compared mean z scores (weight-for-age, length/height-for-age, weight-for-length/height) with growth references.
Main Results:
- Mean weight faltering starts at approximately 3 months, declining until 12 months, then slowing until 18-19 months with subsequent catch-up.
- Weight-for-length/height faltering occurs within the first 15 months, followed by improvement.
- Length/height-for-age faltering begins shortly after birth and persists into the third year.
Conclusions:
- Growth faltering has a distinct timing pattern for weight and height.
- Prenatal and early-life interventions are essential to prevent growth failure.
Objective:
It is widely assumed that growth faltering starts at around 3 months of age, but there has been no systematic assessment of its timing using representative national datasets from a variety of countries.
Methodology:
The World Health Organization Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition includes the results of 39 nationally representative datasets from recent surveys in developing countries. Based on these data, mean z scores of weight for age, length/height for age, and weight for length/height were compared with the National Center for Health Statistics and Cambridge growth references, for children younger than 60 months.
Results:
Mean weights start to falter at about 3 months of age and decline rapidly until about 12 months, with a markedly slower decline until about 18 to 19 months and a catch-up pattern after that. Growth faltering in weight for length/height is restricted to the first 15 months of life, followed by rapid improvement. For length/height for age, the global mean is surprisingly close to National Center for Health Statistics and Cambridge references at birth, but faltering starts immediately afterward, lasting well into the third year.
Conclusions:
These findings highlight the need for prenatal and early life interventions to prevent growth failure.