Stunting at 2 years in relation to body composition at 9 years in African urban children

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Noël Cameron1, Melanie M Wright, Paula L Griffiths

  • 1Department of Human Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, United Kingdom. N.Cameron@lboro.ac.uk

Obesity Research
|March 12, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Children stunted in early childhood in South Africa remained shorter and lighter but did not show altered body composition or fat patterning before puberty. Early stunting did not predict later overweight or obesity.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Nutrition
  • Human Growth and Development
  • Body Composition Analysis

Background:

  • Childhood stunting is a significant public health concern in many African urban settings.
  • Understanding the long-term effects of early stunting on body composition is crucial for targeted interventions.
  • Previous research suggests potential links between early growth faltering and later metabolic health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if African urban children with early childhood stunting exhibit altered body composition by late childhood (9 years).
  • To assess the predictive value of early stunting on body mass index (BMI), body composition, and fat distribution in prepubertal children.
  • To determine if early stunting influences the risk of developing overweight or obesity before puberty.

Main Methods:

  • A mixed-longitudinal study involving 330 prepubertal children from Soweto-Johannesburg, South Africa.
  • Comparison of anthropometric data at 2 years of age with data at 7–9 years of age.
  • Utilized dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to determine body composition and fat patterning.

Main Results:

  • Children stunted at 2 years were significantly shorter and lighter at 7–9 years compared to non-stunted peers.
  • No significant differences in BMI or centralization of body fat were observed between previously stunted and non-stunted children.
  • Early stunting status predicted reduced weight and height but not BMI, body composition, or fat patterning at 7–9 years.

Conclusions:

  • Greater BMI in stunted infants reflects greater height reduction rather than weight reduction, not a tendency towards overweight.
  • Evidence suggests stunted children may be programmed for increased central adiposity during adolescence.
  • Altered body composition and fat patterning due to early stunting were not evident before pubertal development in this cohort.
Abstract

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