Post-infancy growth, schooling, and cognitive achievement: Young Lives
Summary of research paper: Crookston, B.G. et al. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2013 Sep; 1-9
Early life growth failure and resulting cognitive deficits are often assumed to be very difficult to reverse after infancy. The objective of this study was to use data from ‘Young Lives’, an observational cohort of 8062 children in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam, to determine whether changes in growth after infancy were associated with schooling and cognitive achievement at age 8 years. Height-for-age z-score (HAZ) was measured at 1 year and 8 years. Results showed that stunting at 1 year (Height-for-Age Z score <-2.0) was associated with being older than normal for school grade/year and lower scores in mathematics, reading comprehension and vocabulary. Lower than expected growth from 1 to 8 years of age was also associated with being older than normal for school grade/year and lower scores in mathematics, reading comprehension and vocabulary. Children who recovered from stunting had better outcomes than children who remained persistently stunted, whereas children who became stunted tended to perform worse than children who were never stunted. The study authors conclude that improvements in child growth after early faltering might have significant benefits on schooling and cognitive achievement. Hence, although early interventions remain critical, interventions to improve the nutrition of pre-primary and early primary school–age children are also important.
More like this
FEX: Chronic disease outcomes after SAM in Malawian children (ChroSAM): A cohort study
Summary of research* Location: Malawi What we know: Little is known about the long-term health effects of survivors of severe acute malnutrition (SAM), particularly risk of...
FEX: Early is best but it is not always too late. Young Lives evidence on nutrition and growth in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam
View this article as a pdf Summary of report Location: Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam What this article is about: Anthropometric data, taken from 12,000 children across...
FEX: Summary of Lancet Series on Maternal and Child Undernutrition
Below are short summaries of the recently launched Lancet series of papers on Maternal and Child Undernutrition1. This high profile series focuses on the disease burden...
NEX: Editorial
We are delighted to share with you Issue 5 of Nutrition Exchange. In keeping with our aim to have the majority of NEX content written by national actors engaged in nutrition...
FEX: Mainstreaming nutrition in a school-based feeding programme in northeast Nigeria
By Greg Sclama View this article as a pdf Lisez cet article en français ici Gregory Sclama is an Assistant Professor of International Development and Economics at the...
FEX: Higher heights: a greater ambition for maternal and child nutrition in South Asia
Research Summary 1 Poor nutrition in early life threatens the growth and development of children, which has a knock-on effect on the sustainable development of nations. This...
FEX: Diet and nutrition status among school-age children and adolescents in Tanzania
View this article as a pdf By Sauli John, Geofrey Mchau, Heavenlight Ayubu, Stanslaus Mafung'a, Samafilan Ainan, Wiggins Kyatikila, Elizabeth Lyimo, Frank Chacky, Fatoumata...
FEX: Defining and treating “high-risk” moderate acute malnutrition using expanded admission criteria (Hi-MAM Study): A cluster-randomised controlled trial protocol
View this article as a pdf By Natasha Lelijveld, David Taylor Hendrixson, Claire Godbout, Alyssa Los, Jukka M Leppänen, Aminata Koroma and Mark Manary Natasha Lelijveld...
FEX: Follow-up of post-discharge growth and mortality after treatment for SAM in Malawi
Summary of research1 Location: Malawi What we know: There are limited data on long term outcomes following discharge from SAM treatment; what exists is largely pre-HIV....
FEX: Non-nutrition interventions to prevent anaemia in school-age children and adolescents
View this article as a pdf Lisez cet article en français ici By Natalie Roschnik, Andrew Hall, Moussa Sacko and Sian Clarke Natalie Roschnik is Senior Nutrition...
FEX: Promoting linear growth when treating child wasting
View this article as a pdf This article discusses the state of evidence surrounding the treatment of wasted and stunted children considering current challenges and possible...
FEX: Nutrition and brain development in early life
Summary of review1 Location: Global What we know: It is likely that nutrition deficiency during pregnancy and early childhood affects individual cognition, behaviour, long...
FEX: Supporting healthy growth in infants in low-resource settings in Mumbai, India
View this article as a pdf Lisez cet article en français ici By Rupal Dalal, Shruthi Iyer, Marian Abraham and Lahari Yaddanapudi Rupal Dalal MD FAAP IBCLC is a...
FEX: The relationship between wasting and stunting: policy, programming and research implications
Summary of review1 This summary was prepared by Tanya Khara, an independent consultant engaged by the ENN on this review. The review was made possible by the generous support...
FEX: Prevalence of Anaemia Amongst Young Children in Argentina
By Adrian Díaz, Amador Gómez, Nuria Salse and Gabriela Cormick Adrian Díaz is a physician and Technical Coordinator for ACH in Argentina. He has worked with MSF in Honduras on...
FEX: Wasting is associated with stunting in early childhood
Summary of published research1 Location: Africa, Asia, Latin America What we know already: Wasting and stunting are respectively short term and longer term conditions of...
FEX: Deworming Debunked
Summary of published article1 A recent article in the BMJ sets about debunking certain long-held beliefs about deworming which has been hailed as a simple, cheap, and...
FEX: Community-based management of severe malnutrition: SAM and SUW in children under five in the Melghat tribal area, central India
By Dr Vibhavari Dani, Dr Ashish Satav, Mrs Jayashri Pendharkar, Dr Kavita Satav, Dr Ajay Sadanshiv, Dr Ambadas S Adhav and Dr Bharat S Thakare Dr. Vibhavari Dani is a...
NEX: Growth faltering and recovery in children aged 1– 8 years in four low- and middle-income countries: Young Lives
Summary of paper: Lundeed, E.A. et al. Public Health Nutrition: 2014 Sep;17(9):2131-7 The objective of this study was to characterize post-infancy child growth patterns and...
FEX: Long-term outcomes for children with disability and severe acute malnutrition in Malawi
View this article as a pdf Research snapshot1 Despite broad understanding that severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and disability can cause and influence one another, there is...
Reference this page
Editors (). Post-infancy growth, schooling, and cognitive achievement: Young Lives. Nutrition Exchange 5, May 2015. p8. www.ennonline.net/nex/5/postinfancygrowthschool
(ENN_5126)