Long‐term consequences of stunting in early life
- 19 September 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Maternal & Child Nutrition
- Vol. 7 (s3), 5-18
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-8709.2011.00349.x
Abstract
This review summarizes the impact of stunting, highlights recent research findings, discusses policy and programme implications and identifies research priorities. There is growing evidence of the connections between slow growth in height early in life and impaired health and educational and economic performance later in life. Recent research findings, including follow-up of an intervention trial in Guatemala, indicate that stunting can have long-term effects on cognitive development, school achievement, economic productivity in adulthood and maternal reproductive outcomes. This evidence has contributed to the growing scientific consensus that tackling childhood stunting is a high priority for reducing the global burden of disease and for fostering economic development. Follow-up of randomized intervention trials is needed in other regions to add to the findings of the Guatemala trial. Further research is also needed to: understand the pathways by which prevention of stunting can have long-term effects; identify the pathways through which the non-genetic transmission of nutritional effects is mediated in future generations; and determine the impact of interventions focused on linear growth in early life on chronic disease risk in adulthood.Keywords
This publication has 34 references indexed in Scilit:
- Association of Maternal Stature With Offspring Mortality, Underweight, and Stunting in Low- to Middle-Income CountriesJAMA, 2010
- The Nutrition Intervention Improved Adult Human Capital and Economic ProductivityJournal of Nutrition, 2010
- Weight 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 CountriesJournal of Nutrition, 2010
- Nutritional supplementation in girls influences the growth of their children: prospective study in GuatemalaThe American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2009
- Two million intrapartum-related stillbirths and neonatal deaths: Where, why, and what can be done?International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 2009
- What works? Interventions for maternal and child undernutrition and survivalThe Lancet, 2008
- Maternal and child undernutrition: consequences for adult health and human capitalThe Lancet, 2008
- Maternal and child undernutrition: global and regional exposures and health consequencesThe Lancet, 2008
- Cognitive development in children with chronic protein energy malnutritionBehavioral and Brain Functions, 2008
- Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countriesThe Lancet, 2007