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Blindness influences the growth of institutionalized prepubertal subjects
A Bellastella1, A A Sinisi, C Raiola
1Istituto di Endocrinologia, I Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia Università di Napoli, Italy.
Insights
Blindness may negatively impact growth in prepubertal children, particularly girls, potentially leading to short stature or growth delays. This study examined height and weight in blind versus sighted children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric endocrinology
- Developmental biology
- Ophthalmology
Background:
- Childhood growth is influenced by various factors, including genetics and environment.
- Visual impairment is a significant condition affecting child development.
- Previous research has not conclusively determined the impact of blindness on growth parameters.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of blindness on the growth rate of prepubertal children.
- To compare the height and weight of blind children with a large, age-matched population of sighted children.
- To determine if the degree of visual impairment (total blindness vs. light perception) affects growth outcomes.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 71 prepubertal blind subjects (aged 7-10 years) was studied.
- Subjects were divided into two groups: total blindness (Group 1) and light perception (Group 2).
- Height and weight distributions were compared to an age-matched control group of 7902 sighted children using the Chi-squared test for trend.
Main Results:
- Both totally blind and partially blind subjects exhibited significantly lower stature compared to controls.
- Female subjects in both blind groups showed significantly reduced stature compared to female controls.
- No significant differences in weight distribution were observed between blind and sighted subjects.
Conclusions:
- Total or partial blindness may negatively influence the growth of prepubertal children.
- Blindness is associated with short stature or growth delay, especially in females.
- Further research is warranted to understand the mechanisms behind impaired growth in visually impaired children.
Abstract:
To investigate if blindness influences the growth rate of young subjects we measured height and weight of 71 prepubertal blind subjects (33 females and 38 males) aged 7-10 yr, in Tanner stage one puberty, living at the Institute "Martuscelli" for young blind individuals in Naples, Italy. They were divided into two groups: group 1 consisting of 27 subjects (14 females and 13 males) with total blindness; group 2 consisting of 44 subjects (20 females and 24 males) having only a light perception. The distribution in quintiles of their height and weight was compared by X2 test for trend to that of an age-matched large population (7902 subjects: 3808 females and 4094 males) of primary school from the same district. A stature significantly lower than controls was evidenced in both group 1 (p = 0.0006) and in group 2 (p = 0.008). When the comparison is performed taking into account the sex of subjects, the girls of both group 1 (p = 0.0014) and group 2 (p = 0.0004) show a stature significantly lower than female controls, whereas the stature of boys of both groups did not differ from that of male controls. No statistically significant differences in weight distribution were found between controls and either group 1 and group 2. Our results suggest that total or partial blindness could influence negatively the growth of prepubertal subjects; in particular it can cause short stature or growth delay especially in female sex.