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Updated: Feb 8, 2026
07:47
ScanLag: High-throughput Quantification of Colony Growth and Lag Time
Published on: July 15, 2014
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Implications of Growth as a Time-Specific Event
Nestle Nutrition Institute Workshop Series
|July 11, 2018
Summary
Current growth assessments using weight and height are insufficient. New research highlights dynamic body composition changes and pulsatile growth, suggesting current nutritional needs for growth are incomplete.
Area of Science:
- Human Growth and Development
- Nutritional Science
- Body Composition Analysis
Background:
- Traditional growth assessment relies on weight and height, using population-based charts.
- These methods offer limited insight into the dynamic physiological processes of tissue accrual.
- Existing approaches are insensitive to individual-level body composition and its developmental determinants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To challenge the adequacy of current growth assessment methods.
- To highlight the need for a better understanding of individual body composition and its developmental drivers.
- To explore the implications of saltatory growth patterns on nutritional requirements.
Main Methods:
- Review of empirical evidence on children's growth patterns.
- Analysis of the relationship between nutritional components and tissue accrual.
- Examination of body composition changes during growth saltations.
Main Results:
- Children's skeletal and head circumference growth occur in discrete saltations, not continuous progression.
- These growth events are associated with pulsatile changes in subcutaneous fat, indicating metabolic shifts.
- Weight and height measurements do not fully capture these dynamic compositional changes.
Conclusions:
- Current methods for assessing nutritional influences on growth are incomplete.
- A deeper understanding of the mechanisms driving saltatory growth and associated nutritional needs is required.
- Individual-level body composition dynamics are crucial for understanding growth and lifelong health outcomes.
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