Height, BMI, and relative economic standing in children from developing countries.

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Pediatric Nutrition
• Socioeconomic Determinants of Health

Background:

• The relationship between height and body mass index (BMI) in children and adolescents is influenced by various factors, including socioeconomic status.
• Understanding these associations is crucial for public health interventions in developing countries, where nutritional challenges are prevalent.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the association between height and BMI in child and female adolescent populations in developing countries.
• To evaluate the role of relative economic status in modifying the height-BMI association.

Main Methods:

• Flexible structured additive regression models were used to analyze associations between height, BMI, and relative wealth.
• Linear regression models assessed height-wealth interactions on BMI outcomes.
• Pooled data from Demographic and Health Surveys of 971,180 children under 5 and 225,718 adolescent females across 64 developing countries were analyzed.

Main Results:

• A strong inverse association between height and BMI was observed in children across the entire height distribution.
• Female adolescents displayed a weaker inverse height-BMI association.
• Relative economic status showed a stronger influence on the height-BMI relationship in children under 3 years, diminishing by age 5.

Conclusions:

• Relative economic status may mitigate adverse effects of the height-BMI association in young children.
• Higher socioeconomic status may promote healthier body weight in shorter children during critical early-life periods.
• This protective effect may extend to limiting body weight in shorter children as they age, addressing long-term overweight and obesity concerns.