Cargando…

Patterns in child stunting by age: A cross‐sectional study of 94 low‐ and middle‐income countries

Child stunting prevalence is primarily used as an indicator of impeded physical growth due to undernutrition and infections, which also increases the risk of mortality, morbidity and cognitive problems, particularly when occurring during the 1000 days from conception to age 2 years. This paper estim...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Karlsson, Omar, Kim, Rockli, Moloney, Grainne M., Hasman, Andreas, Subramanian, S. V.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10483943/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37276243
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13537
_version_ 1785102494167203840
author Karlsson, Omar
Kim, Rockli
Moloney, Grainne M.
Hasman, Andreas
Subramanian, S. V.
author_facet Karlsson, Omar
Kim, Rockli
Moloney, Grainne M.
Hasman, Andreas
Subramanian, S. V.
author_sort Karlsson, Omar
collection PubMed
description Child stunting prevalence is primarily used as an indicator of impeded physical growth due to undernutrition and infections, which also increases the risk of mortality, morbidity and cognitive problems, particularly when occurring during the 1000 days from conception to age 2 years. This paper estimated the relationship between stunting prevalence and age for children 0–59 months old in 94 low‐ and middle‐income countries. The overall stunting prevalence was 32%. We found higher stunting prevalence among older children until around 28 months of age—presumably from longer exposure times and accumulation of adverse exposures to undernutrition and infections. In most countries, the stunting prevalence was lower for older children after around 28 months—presumably mostly due to further adverse exposures being less detrimental for older children, and catch‐up growth. The age for which stunting prevalence was the highest was fairly consistent across countries. Stunting prevalence and gradient of the rise in stunting prevalence by age varied across world regions, countries, living standards and sex. Poorer countries and households had a higher prevalence at all ages and a sharper positive age gradient before age 2. Boys had higher stunting prevalence but had peak stunting prevalence at lower ages than girls. Stunting prevalence was similar for boys and girls after around age 45 months. These results suggest that programmes to prevent undernutrition and infections should focus on younger children to optimise impact in reducing stunting prevalence. Importantly, however, since some catch‐up growth may be achieved after age 2, screening around this time can be beneficial.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10483943
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher John Wiley and Sons Inc.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-104839432023-09-08 Patterns in child stunting by age: A cross‐sectional study of 94 low‐ and middle‐income countries Karlsson, Omar Kim, Rockli Moloney, Grainne M. Hasman, Andreas Subramanian, S. V. Matern Child Nutr Original Articles Child stunting prevalence is primarily used as an indicator of impeded physical growth due to undernutrition and infections, which also increases the risk of mortality, morbidity and cognitive problems, particularly when occurring during the 1000 days from conception to age 2 years. This paper estimated the relationship between stunting prevalence and age for children 0–59 months old in 94 low‐ and middle‐income countries. The overall stunting prevalence was 32%. We found higher stunting prevalence among older children until around 28 months of age—presumably from longer exposure times and accumulation of adverse exposures to undernutrition and infections. In most countries, the stunting prevalence was lower for older children after around 28 months—presumably mostly due to further adverse exposures being less detrimental for older children, and catch‐up growth. The age for which stunting prevalence was the highest was fairly consistent across countries. Stunting prevalence and gradient of the rise in stunting prevalence by age varied across world regions, countries, living standards and sex. Poorer countries and households had a higher prevalence at all ages and a sharper positive age gradient before age 2. Boys had higher stunting prevalence but had peak stunting prevalence at lower ages than girls. Stunting prevalence was similar for boys and girls after around age 45 months. These results suggest that programmes to prevent undernutrition and infections should focus on younger children to optimise impact in reducing stunting prevalence. Importantly, however, since some catch‐up growth may be achieved after age 2, screening around this time can be beneficial. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2023-06-05 /pmc/articles/PMC10483943/ /pubmed/37276243 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13537 Text en © 2023 The Authors. Maternal & Child Nutrition published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
spellingShingle Original Articles
Karlsson, Omar
Kim, Rockli
Moloney, Grainne M.
Hasman, Andreas
Subramanian, S. V.
Patterns in child stunting by age: A cross‐sectional study of 94 low‐ and middle‐income countries
title Patterns in child stunting by age: A cross‐sectional study of 94 low‐ and middle‐income countries
title_full Patterns in child stunting by age: A cross‐sectional study of 94 low‐ and middle‐income countries
title_fullStr Patterns in child stunting by age: A cross‐sectional study of 94 low‐ and middle‐income countries
title_full_unstemmed Patterns in child stunting by age: A cross‐sectional study of 94 low‐ and middle‐income countries
title_short Patterns in child stunting by age: A cross‐sectional study of 94 low‐ and middle‐income countries
title_sort patterns in child stunting by age: a cross‐sectional study of 94 low‐ and middle‐income countries
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10483943/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37276243
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13537
work_keys_str_mv AT karlssonomar patternsinchildstuntingbyageacrosssectionalstudyof94lowandmiddleincomecountries
AT kimrockli patternsinchildstuntingbyageacrosssectionalstudyof94lowandmiddleincomecountries
AT moloneygrainnem patternsinchildstuntingbyageacrosssectionalstudyof94lowandmiddleincomecountries
AT hasmanandreas patternsinchildstuntingbyageacrosssectionalstudyof94lowandmiddleincomecountries
AT subramaniansv patternsinchildstuntingbyageacrosssectionalstudyof94lowandmiddleincomecountries