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Growth dynamics among adolescent girls in Bangladesh: Evidence from nationally representative data spanning 2011–2014

BACKGROUND: Adolescence is the last opportunity to reverse any growth faltering accumulated from fetal life through childhood and it is considered a crucial period to optimize human development. In Bangladesh, a growing double burden of underweight and obesity in adolescents is recognized, yet limit...

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Autores principales: Adams, A. M., Khan, A., Roy, A. S., Hassan, Md. T., Mridha, M. K., Ahmed, N. U., Mustaphi, P., Chowdhury, I., Khondker, R., Hyder, Z.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8321121/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34324581
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255273
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author Adams, A. M.
Khan, A.
Roy, A. S.
Hassan, Md. T.
Mridha, M. K.
Ahmed, N. U.
Mustaphi, P.
Chowdhury, I.
Khondker, R.
Hyder, Z.
author_facet Adams, A. M.
Khan, A.
Roy, A. S.
Hassan, Md. T.
Mridha, M. K.
Ahmed, N. U.
Mustaphi, P.
Chowdhury, I.
Khondker, R.
Hyder, Z.
author_sort Adams, A. M.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Adolescence is the last opportunity to reverse any growth faltering accumulated from fetal life through childhood and it is considered a crucial period to optimize human development. In Bangladesh, a growing double burden of underweight and obesity in adolescents is recognized, yet limited data exists on how, when, and where to intervene. This study assesses the dynamics of growth among adolescent girls in Bangladesh, providing insight about critical junctures where faltering occurs and where immediate interventions are warranted. METHODS: We pooled data from Bangladesh’s Food Security and Nutrition Surveillance Project collected between 2011 and 2014 to document the age dynamics of weight and linear growth. 20,572 adolescent girls were measured for height and 19,345 for weight. We constructed growth curves for height, weight, stunting, and underweight. We also stratified growth dynamics by wealth quintile to assess socioeconomic inequities in adolescent trajectories. RESULTS: Height-for-age z-score (HAZ) in Bangladeshi girls deteriorates throughout adolescence and especially during the early years. Mean HAZ decreases by 0.20 standard deviations (sd) per year in early adolescence (10–14 years) vs 0.06 sd/year during late adolescence (15–19 years), while stunting increases by 16 percentage points (pp) vs 6.7 pp, respectively. Conversely, BMI-for-age z-score (BAZ) increases by 0.13 sd/year in early adolescence vs 0.02 sd/year in late adolescence, and underweight decreases by 12.8 pp vs 3.2 pp. Adolescent girls in all socioeconomic groups show a similar pattern of HAZ and BAZ dynamics, but the curve for the richest quintile stays above that of the poorest across all ages. CONCLUSIONS: Trends and levels of stunting and underweight among adolescent girls in Bangladesh are worrisome, suggesting substantial linear growth faltering in early adolescence, with improving weight-for-age occurring only as linear growth slows and stops. Given the rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Bangladesh and emerging evidence of the link between stunting and later chronic diseases, greater attention to adolescent growth and development is needed. Our findings suggest that, to address stunting, interventions in early adolescence would have the greatest benefits. School-based interventions could be a way to target this population.
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spelling pubmed-83211212021-07-31 Growth dynamics among adolescent girls in Bangladesh: Evidence from nationally representative data spanning 2011–2014 Adams, A. M. Khan, A. Roy, A. S. Hassan, Md. T. Mridha, M. K. Ahmed, N. U. Mustaphi, P. Chowdhury, I. Khondker, R. Hyder, Z. PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Adolescence is the last opportunity to reverse any growth faltering accumulated from fetal life through childhood and it is considered a crucial period to optimize human development. In Bangladesh, a growing double burden of underweight and obesity in adolescents is recognized, yet limited data exists on how, when, and where to intervene. This study assesses the dynamics of growth among adolescent girls in Bangladesh, providing insight about critical junctures where faltering occurs and where immediate interventions are warranted. METHODS: We pooled data from Bangladesh’s Food Security and Nutrition Surveillance Project collected between 2011 and 2014 to document the age dynamics of weight and linear growth. 20,572 adolescent girls were measured for height and 19,345 for weight. We constructed growth curves for height, weight, stunting, and underweight. We also stratified growth dynamics by wealth quintile to assess socioeconomic inequities in adolescent trajectories. RESULTS: Height-for-age z-score (HAZ) in Bangladeshi girls deteriorates throughout adolescence and especially during the early years. Mean HAZ decreases by 0.20 standard deviations (sd) per year in early adolescence (10–14 years) vs 0.06 sd/year during late adolescence (15–19 years), while stunting increases by 16 percentage points (pp) vs 6.7 pp, respectively. Conversely, BMI-for-age z-score (BAZ) increases by 0.13 sd/year in early adolescence vs 0.02 sd/year in late adolescence, and underweight decreases by 12.8 pp vs 3.2 pp. Adolescent girls in all socioeconomic groups show a similar pattern of HAZ and BAZ dynamics, but the curve for the richest quintile stays above that of the poorest across all ages. CONCLUSIONS: Trends and levels of stunting and underweight among adolescent girls in Bangladesh are worrisome, suggesting substantial linear growth faltering in early adolescence, with improving weight-for-age occurring only as linear growth slows and stops. Given the rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Bangladesh and emerging evidence of the link between stunting and later chronic diseases, greater attention to adolescent growth and development is needed. Our findings suggest that, to address stunting, interventions in early adolescence would have the greatest benefits. School-based interventions could be a way to target this population. Public Library of Science 2021-07-29 /pmc/articles/PMC8321121/ /pubmed/34324581 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255273 Text en © 2021 Adams et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Adams, A. M.
Khan, A.
Roy, A. S.
Hassan, Md. T.
Mridha, M. K.
Ahmed, N. U.
Mustaphi, P.
Chowdhury, I.
Khondker, R.
Hyder, Z.
Growth dynamics among adolescent girls in Bangladesh: Evidence from nationally representative data spanning 2011–2014
title Growth dynamics among adolescent girls in Bangladesh: Evidence from nationally representative data spanning 2011–2014
title_full Growth dynamics among adolescent girls in Bangladesh: Evidence from nationally representative data spanning 2011–2014
title_fullStr Growth dynamics among adolescent girls in Bangladesh: Evidence from nationally representative data spanning 2011–2014
title_full_unstemmed Growth dynamics among adolescent girls in Bangladesh: Evidence from nationally representative data spanning 2011–2014
title_short Growth dynamics among adolescent girls in Bangladesh: Evidence from nationally representative data spanning 2011–2014
title_sort growth dynamics among adolescent girls in bangladesh: evidence from nationally representative data spanning 2011–2014
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8321121/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34324581
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255273
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