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[Growth after early severe malnutrition]
1INTA, Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Universidad de Chile.
Insights
Early severe malnutrition can cause long-term growth deficits in children, particularly girls, even after recovery. Returning to the same adverse socioeconomic conditions exacerbates these effects, highlighting the need for sustained environmental support.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Child Development
- Longitudinal Growth Studies
Context:
- Severe malnutrition in early childhood poses significant risks to long-term development.
- Understanding the lasting impact of protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is crucial for intervention strategies.
- Socioeconomic factors play a critical role in child growth and recovery outcomes.
Purpose:
- To investigate the long-term growth trajectory of children recovering from early severe protein-energy malnutrition (PEM).
- To compare the growth patterns of recovered PEM children with a matched control group over a 9-year period.
- To assess the influence of socioeconomic conditions on post-malnutrition growth recovery.
Summary:
- Children recovered from early PEM exhibited significant differences in height-for-age and weight-for-age compared to never-malnourished controls.
- While bone age showed no differences, growth velocity was significantly impacted, particularly in girls, suggesting lasting effects.
- Mothers' and birth sizes were smaller in the PEM group, indicating potential pre-existing vulnerabilities.
Impact:
- Early severe malnutrition can lead to persistent growth deficits, especially in girls, even after nutritional recovery.
- The study underscores the detrimental effect of returning children to the same unfavorable socioeconomic environment post-treatment.
- Findings emphasize the need for comprehensive, long-term support systems addressing both nutritional and environmental factors for children affected by early malnutrition.
Abstract:
In order to investigate growth following early severe malnutrition, two groups of 40 children and their mothers were studied, one of patients recovered from early protein energy malnutrition (PEM) at a closed center for nutritional recovery and another one of children under the same socioeconomic condition but who had never been malnourished. Both groups were matched for sex and age, and were followed by the same professional team for 9 years. A significant difference in mother's size (154.8 +/- 5.2 vs. 150 +/- 3.6 cm) and in patients size at birth (males 3,453.5 +/- 522.3 vs. 3,018.2 +/- 490.3 and females 3,328.4 +/- 563.4 vs. 2,654.6 +/- 579.6 g) was found in favour of the control group (p < 0.01). There were significant differences in height for age (H/A) and weight for age (W/A) (p < 0.001) but not in weight for height ratios between children for both groups (fig. 1 and 2). No differences were detected in bone age. Growth velocity was similar in both groups of boys (10.40 +/- 2.3 vs. 9.81 +/- 1.40 cm and 12.94 +/- 2.53 vs. 12.80 +/- 1.64 cm from 5 to 7 and 7 to 9 years of age respectively) but it was significantly greater in control girls (11.22 +/- 2.70 vs. 9.30 +/- 1.60 and 15.60 +/- 1.66 vs. 12.80 +/- 2.20 cm 5 to 7 and 7 to 9 years respectively, p < 0.01). These findings show that malnutrition before 2 years of age may produce long term effects on growth in children of low socioeconomic condition specially if, after treatment, they are turned back to the same unfavourable environment.