Associations of linear growth and relative weight gain during early life with adult health and human capital in countries of low and middle income: findings from five birth cohort studies
The LancetPublished 27 March 2013Open access
Linda S. Adair, Caroline Fall, Clive Osmond, Aryeh D. Stein, Reynaldo Martorell, Manuel Ramírez‐Zea
Citations902
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score12.11
SNIP22.72
Generate an AI Snapshot to get a quick, structured summary of this paper.
Study Snapshot
ObjectiveStudy objective
MethodsResearch methodology
PopulationPopulation studied
Sample sizeSample sizes
OutcomesStudy outcomes here
ResultsStudy results comes here
LimitationsResearch study limitations comes here
A concise AI-generated summary of the paper will appear here once you click Generate AI Snapshot.
TL;DR
Interventions in countries of low and middle income to increase birthweight and linear growth during the first 2 years of life are likely to result in substantial gains in height and schooling and give some protection from adult chronic disease risk factors, with few adverse trade-offs.
Abstract
Wellcome Trust and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Keywords
MedicineNursing
BMJEstablishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey
16,367 Citations2000Tim Cole
The proposed cut off points, which are less arbitrary and more internationally based than current alternatives, should help to provide internationally comparable prevalence rates of overweight and obesity in children.
Diabetic MedicineDefinition, diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus and its complications. Part 1: diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus. Provisional report of a WHO Consultation
15,141 Citations1998K. G. M. M. Alberti, Paul Zimmet +1 more
A WHO Consultation has taken place in parallel with a report by an American Diabetes Association Expert Committee to re‐examine diagnostic criteria and classification of diabetes mellitus and is hoped that the new classification will allow better classification of individuals and lead to fewer therapeutic misjudgements.
Acta PaediatricaWHO Child Growth Standards based on length/height, weight and age
3,985 Citations2006Mercedes de Onís
The Box‐Cox power exponential (BCPE) method, with curve smoothing by cubic splines, was used to construct the curves and the concordance between smoothed percentile curves and empirical percentiles was excellent and free of bias.
The LancetMaternal and child undernutrition: consequences for adult health and human capital
3,933 Citations2008César G. Victora, Linda S. Adair +5 more
It is concluded that damage suffered in early life leads to permanent impairment, and might also affect future generations, as undernutrition is associated with lower human capital and its prevention will probably bring about important health, educational, and economic benefits.
The LancetWhat works? Interventions for maternal and child undernutrition and survival
2,232 Citations2008Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Tahmeed Ahmed +9 more
To eliminate stunting in the longer term, existing interventions that were designed to improve nutrition and prevent related disease could reduce stunting at 36 months by 36%; mortality between birth and 36 monthsBy about 25%; and disability-adjusted life-years associated with stunting, severe wasting, intrauterine growth restriction, and micronutrient deficiencies by about 25%.
The LancetEffect of a nutrition intervention during early childhood on economic productivity in Guatemalan adults
877 Citations2008John Hoddinott, John A. Maluccio +3 more
Exposure to atole before, but not after, age 3 years was associated with higher hourly wages, but only for men, which suggests that investments in early childhood nutrition can be long-term drivers of economic growth.
CirculationFetal, Infant, and Childhood Growth and Adult Blood Pressure
467 Citations2002Catherine Law, Alistair W. Shiell +6 more
Part of the risk of adult hypertension is set in fetal life, which is partly mediated through the prediction of adult fatness, and the primary prevention of hypertension may depend on strategies that promote fetal growth and reduce childhood obesity.
International Journal of EpidemiologyCohort Profile: Mandela's children: The 1990 birth to twenty study in South Africa
324 Citations2007Linda Richter, Shane A. Norris +3 more
A group of urban children born in the 7 weeks following Nelson Mandelas release from prison on the February 11 1990 an event that heralded in radical social and political changes are tracked for 10 years not knowing at the time that these children would be the first cohort born into a democratic South Africa.
Journal of NutritionWeight Gain in the First Two Years of Life Is an Important Predictor of Schooling Outcomes in Pooled Analyses from Five Birth Cohorts from Low- and Middle-Income Countries
307 Citations2009Reynaldo Martorell, Bernardo Lessa Horta +9 more
Weight gain during the first 2 y of life had the strongest associations with schooling followed by birthweight; weight gain between 2 and 4 y had little relationship to schooling.
American Journal of Clinical NutritionAnthropometric indicators of body composition in young adults: relation to size at birth and serial measurements of body mass index in childhood in the New Delhi birth cohort
297 Citations2005Harshpal Singh Sachdev, Caroline Fall +7 more
Birth weight and BMI gain during infancy and early childhood predict adult lean mass more strongly than adult adiposity, and greater BMI gain in late childhood and adolescence predicts increased adult fat mass.
International Journal of EpidemiologyCohort Profile: The 1982 Pelotas (Brazil) Birth Cohort Study
274 Citations2005César G. Victora, Fernando C. Barros
The lack of reliable data on perinatal mortality in Brazil, due to poor registration of births and deaths—particularly stillbirths— justified the launch of the study, which led to FCB's PhD thesis.
DiabetologiaPatterns of growth among children who later develop type 2 diabetes or its risk factors
256 Citations2006Johan G. Eriksson, Clive Osmond +3 more
Low weight gain during infancy increases the risk of IGT and type 2 diabetes and the effect is greater in people who had low birthweight, which may be the most critical period for growth, in relation to development of glucose intolerance.
American Journal of Clinical NutritionAnthropometric indicators of body composition in young adults: relation to size at birth and serial measurements of body mass index in childhood in the New Delhi birth cohort
254 Citations2005Harshpal Singh Sachdev, Caroline Fall +7 more
International Journal of EpidemiologyCohort Profile: The Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey
239 Citations2010L. S. Adair, Barry M. Popkin +8 more
The Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey was one of the first large-scale, population-based surveys designed with a conceptual framework in mind, which posits that underlying community-, household and individual-level variables affect a set of proximate health behaviours which, in turn, influence health outcomes such as growth and infectious disease morbidity and mortality.
The Journal of PhysiologyThe dangerous road of catch-up growth
223 Citations2003C. N. Hales, Susan E. Ozanne
The thrifty phenotype hypothesis was proposed to provide a conceptual and experimentally testable basis of relationships between type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome in adults who as neonates showed signs of poor early (fetal and early postnatal) growth, and protein restriction of rat dams is used, as a means to test this hypothesis.
International Journal of EpidemiologyShort-term benefits of catch-up growth for small-for-gestational-age infants
220 Citations2001César G. Victora, Fernando C. Barros +2 more
There appear to be definite benefits associated with catch-up growth, and growth promotion efforts for infants who are born small should take into account their possible short- and long-term consequences.
The Journal of PhysiologyThe dangerous road of catch-up growth
204 Citations2002C. N. Hales, Susan E. Ozanne
HypertensionChildhood Growth and Hypertension in Later Life
204 Citations2007Johan G. Eriksson, Tom Forsén +3 more
It is suggested that 2 different paths of childhood growth precede the development of hypertension through different biological mechanisms and may respond differently to medication.
American Journal of Human BiologyGrowth patterns in early childhood and final attained stature: Data from five birth cohorts from low‐ and middle‐income countries
203 Citations2009Aryeh D. Stein, Meng Wang +10 more
Despite variation in the magnitude of cumulative growth failure across cohorts, the five cohorts show highly consistent age‐specific associations with adult stature, speaking to the importance of interventions to address intrauterine growth failure and growth failure in the first 12 mo of life.
American Journal of Clinical NutritionAssociations between prenatal and postnatal growth and adult body size and composition
192 Citations2003Haojie Li, Aryeh D. Stein +3 more
Growth retardation in early childhood was associated with shortness and less FFM in adulthood, and Preventing growth failure in utero and preventing growth failure during the first 2 y of life are equally important for ABSC.
PubMedHealth, nutrition and prosperity: a microeconomic perspective.
186 Citations2002Duncan Thomas, Elizabeth Frankenberg
A broadening of random assignment studies to measure the effects of an intervention on economic prosperity, investment in population-based longitudinal socioeconomic surveys, and application of emerging technologies for a better measure of health in these surveys will yield very high returns in improving the understanding of how health influences economic prosperity.
Current Opinion in Endocrinology Diabetes and ObesityCatch-up growth in small for gestational age babies: good or bad?
169 Citations2007Ken K. Ong
Current nutritional strategies that promote catch-up growth should include some monitoring of weight-for-length and adiposity, and the concept of ‘healthy catch- up growth’ should be the goal of future research.
Diabetes CareSize at Birth, Weight Gain in Infancy and Childhood, and Adult Diabetes Risk in Five Low- or Middle-Income Country Birth Cohorts
145 Citations2011Shane A. Norris, Clive Osmond +10 more
Lower birth weight and accelerated weight gain after 48 months are risk factors for adult glucose intolerance and insulin resistance in young adults from low- and middle-income countries.
Journal of Clinical EpidemiologyA regression model with unexplained residuals was preferred in the analysis of the fetal origins of adult diseases hypothesis
136 Citations2005Mandy G. Keijzer‐Veen, Anne M. Euser +4 more
The difficulty in understanding an adjusted multivariate regression model is explained, and another way of writing the model is proposed to make the interpretation of the separate influence of birth weight and changes in weight later in life more straightforward.
Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & MetabolismThrifty energy metabolism in catch-up growth trajectories to insulin and leptin resistance
124 Citations2008Abdul G. Dulloo
A molecular-physiological framework is provided which integrates emerging insights into mechanisms by which this thrifty 'catch-up fat' phenotype cross-links with insulin and leptin resistance.
Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic CareEarly growth patterns and long-term obesity risk
119 Citations2010Nicolas Stettler, Violeta Iotova
Past and recent findings confirm the association of early growth patterns with obesity, however, causality must be demonstrated and safety must be established before translating these findings into public health recommendations.
International Journal of EpidemiologyCohort Profile: The Consortium of Health-Orientated Research in Transitioning Societies
117 Citations2011Linda Richter, César G. Victora +10 more
ObesityRapid Postnatal Weight Gain and Visceral Adiposity in Adulthood: The Fels Longitudinal Study
109 Citations2009Ellen W. Demerath, Derek Reed +7 more
In conclusion, rapid infant weight gain is associated with increases in both VAT and ASAT, as well as total adiposity and the risk of obesity in middle adulthood.
International Journal of EpidemiologyCohort Profile: The Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP) Nutrition Trial Cohort Study
106 Citations2008Aryeh D. Stein, Paúl Melgar +2 more
In the mid-1960s, protein deficiency was seen as themost important nutritional problem facing the poor inthe developing countries, and there was considerable concern that this deficiencyaffected children’s ability tolearn.
American Journal of Human BiologyBirth weight, postnatal weight gain, and adult body composition in five low and middle income countries
105 Citations2011Christopher W. Kuzawa, Pedro C. Hallal +11 more
To evaluate the associations between birth weight, infancy, and childhood weight gain and adult body composition, a large number of validated studies have shown positive associations between BW, infancy and childhood body composition.
HypertensionAdipose and Height Growth Through Childhood and Blood Pressure Status in a Large Prospective Cohort Study
94 Citations2012Alexander Jones, Marietta Charakida +8 more
Although BP at 10 years was associated with both prenatal and early postnatal growth, their influence was small compared with that of later growth, and a focus on strategies to reduce the development of adiposity from infancy onward should bring greater reductions in population BP.
Clinica Chimica ActaComparison of POCT and central laboratory blood glucose results using arterial, capillary, and venous samples from MICU patients on a tight glycemic protocol
88 Citations2008John R. Petersen, Donna Graves +4 more
Glucose meters using arterial/venous whole blood may be utilized in the MICU; however, due to the increased variability of results, it is recommended that the routine use of capillary blood sampling for monitoring glucose levels in theMICU setting is not recommended.
Clinical EndocrinologyInfluence of birth size on body composition in early adulthood: the programming factors for growth and metabolism (PROGRAM)‐study
65 Citations2008Ralph W. J. Leunissen, Theo Stijnen +1 more
It is hypothesized that birth size has no influence on adult body composition, whereas weight gain during childhood has.
Economics & Human BiologyEarly childhood length-for-age is associated with the work status of Filipino young adults
53 Citations2009Delia B. Carba, Vivencia L. Tan +1 more
This study examines the relationship of linear growth restriction at 2 years of age to work status in young adults who have, for the most part completed their schooling and further explores whether this relationship differs by gender.
American Journal of Clinical NutritionImpact of prenatal multiple micronutrients on survival and growth during infancy: a randomized controlled trial
48 Citations2012Dominique Roberfroid, Lieven Huybregts +5 more
Improved linear fetal growth with continuation into early life and enhanced postnatal growth were 2 mechanisms that mediated the effect of the prenatal UNIMMAP on infant nutritional status.
Prehospital Emergency CareCorrelation of capillary and venous blood glucometry with laboratory determination
36 Citations2004Gautam Kumar, Ban Leong Sng +1 more
Capillary whole-blood glucose values best approximated venous plasma glucose values from the laboratory, which may result in the withholding of intravenous glucose for patients who are actually hypoglycemic.
Journal of Epidemiology & Community HealthAdolescent blood pressure, body mass index and skin folds: sorting out the effects of early weight and length gains
34 Citations2011Ana Maria Baptista Menezes, Pedro C. Hallal +7 more
The promotion of rapid length/height gain without excessive weight gain seems to be beneficial for long-term outcomes, but this requires confirmation from other studies.
Prehospital Emergency CareC <scp>ORRELATION OF</scp> C <scp>APILLARY AND</scp> V <scp>ENOUS</scp> B <scp>LOOD</scp> G <scp>LUCOMETRY WITH</scp> L <scp>ABORATORY</scp> D <scp>ETERMINATION</scp>
23 Citations2004CPT Gautam Kumar, CPT Ban Leong Sng +1 more
Capillary whole-blood glucose values best approximated venous plasma glucose values from the laboratory, which may result in the withholding of intravenous glucose for patients who are actually hypoglycemic.
Epidemiologic Perspectives & InnovationsGrowth, current size and the role of the 'reversal paradox' in the foetal origins of adult disease: an illustration using vector geometry
17 Citations2006Yu‐Kang Tu, George T. H. Ellison +1 more