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Preschool stunting, age at menarche and adolescent height: a longitudinal study in rural Senegal

Abstract

Objective: To study the impact of preschool stunting on adolescent height and age at menarche in rural West Africa.

Design: A longitudinal, population-based study.

Setting: The Niakhar study area in Central Senegal.

Subjects: 1650 children aged 12–17 y with known height-for-age at the age of 2–5 y.

Main outcome measures: Adolescent height; mean age at menarche of girls estimated by the status quo method.

Results: The subjects were divided into three groups of preschool height-for-age: <−2, −2 to −1 and >−1 z-score of the NCHS reference. The mean height during adolescence differed significantly according to preschool height-for-age for both boys and girls (P<0.001). Relative risk of adolescent stunting according to preschool stunting varied from 2.0–4.0 depending on age and sex. Estimated mean age at menarche was 17.2 (95% fiducial confidence interval: 16.6–18.7), 16.5 (16.1–17.2) and 15.6 (15.2–16.0) y, respectively, for the three groups of preschool height-for-age (P<0.001). Mean increment from age 5 y to adolescence did not differ significantly among the boys according to preschool stunting, but among the girls aged 16–17 y, the increment was higher for those who had been stunted during preschool life (P<0.01).

Conclusion: Some evidence of catch-up growth between the ages of 5 and 17 y was found for stunted girls. The significant delay in sexual maturation of the stunted girls suggests that stunted children of both sexes have a possibility of catch-up growth after the age of 17 y.

Sponsorship: The preschool study was supported by the EEC (TSD-036).

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Simondon, K., Simondon, F., Simon, I. et al. Preschool stunting, age at menarche and adolescent height: a longitudinal study in rural Senegal. Eur J Clin Nutr 52, 412–418 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1600577

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1600577

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