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Determining Soil-transmitted Helminth Infection Status and Physical Fitness of School-aged Children
10:57

Determining Soil-transmitted Helminth Infection Status and Physical Fitness of School-aged Children

Published on: August 22, 2012

Early childhood diarrhoea and helminthiases associate with long-term linear growth faltering

S R Moore1, A A Lima, M R Conaway

  • 1Division of Geographic and International Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.

International Journal of Epidemiology
|February 1, 2002
PubMed

Insights

Early childhood diarrhea and intestinal helminthiases significantly stunt growth, leading to lasting height deficits up to age 7. Interventions can improve long-term child development.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Nutritional Science

Background:

  • Acute mortality from diarrheal diseases is recognized, but long-term impacts on child growth are often underestimated.
  • Early childhood enteric infections can have prolonged effects on development.
  • Investigating the link between early infections and later growth faltering is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the magnitude and duration of the association between early childhood enteric infections (diarrhea and helminthiases) and growth faltering.
  • To examine nutritional status from ages 2 to 7 years in relation to early childhood infections.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study in Northeast Brazil (1989-1998) involving 119 children.
  • Twice-weekly diarrhea surveillance and quarterly anthropometric measurements from birth to age 7.
  • Statistical analyses included Pearson correlation, multivariate linear regression, and repeat measures analysis.

Main Results:

  • Early childhood diarrhea (0-2 years) was significantly associated with growth faltering from ages 2-7 years.
  • An average of 9.1 diarrheal episodes before age 2 was linked to a 3.6 cm growth shortfall by age 7.
  • Intestinal helminthiases in early childhood also independently associated with linear growth faltering, contributing an additional 4.6 cm shortfall.

Conclusions:

  • Early childhood diarrhea and helminthiases independently cause substantial linear growth deficits persisting beyond age 6.
  • Targeted interventions for controlling these infections can yield significant and enduring growth benefits for children in similar environments.
Abstract

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