Busert, LK;
Neuman, M;
Rehfuess, EA;
Dulal, S;
Harthan, J;
Chaube, SS;
Bhandari, B;
... Saville, NM; + view all
(2016)
Dietary Diversity Is Positively Associated with Deviation from Expected Height in Rural Nepal.
Journal of Nutrition
, 146
(7)
pp. 1387-1393.
10.3945/jn.115.220137.
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Abstract
Background: Recent research has highlighted the need for additional studies on the nutrition input required to stabilize growth. Objective: Our objective was to examine the association between dietary diversity and conditional growth in children aged 0–89 mo. Methods: We analyzed cohort data from 529 mothers and children living in a remote and food-insecure region in the mountains of Nepal. Children were aged 0–59 mo at baseline and were followed up after 9 and 29 mo. Conditional growth was calculated as the deviation from the expected height-for-age difference (HAD) trajectory based on previous measures of HAD and the pattern of growth in the population. Dietary diversity was assessed with the use of a count of the foods consumed from 7 food groups in the previous 7 d. The association between dietary diversity and conditional growth during the 2 follow-up periods (of 9 and 20 mo, respectively) was estimated with the use of ordinary least-squares regressions. Results: Prevalence of stunting and absolute height deficits was very high and increased over the course of the study. At the last measurement (age range 29–89 mo), 76.5% were stunted and the mean ± SD HAD was −11.7 ± 4.6 cm. Dietary diversity was associated positively with conditional growth in the later (May 2012–December 2013) but not the earlier (July 2011–May 2012) growth period. Children’s ages ranged from 0 to 59 mo in July 2011, 9 to 69 mo in May 2012, and 29 to 89 mo in December 2013. After adjustment, increasing the dietary diversity by one food group was associated with a 0.09 cm (95% CI: 0.00, 0.17 cm) increase in conditional growth in the second growth period. Conclusions: Increasing dietary diversity for children reduces the risk of stunting and improves growth after growth faltering. Future efforts should be directed at enabling families in food-insecure areas to feed their children a more diverse diet.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Dietary Diversity Is Positively Associated with Deviation from Expected Height in Rural Nepal |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3945/jn.115.220137 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3945/jn.115.220137 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This is an open access article distributed under the CC-BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Nutrition & Dietetics, dietary diversity, child growth, child growth recovery, child growth faltering, stunting, conditional growth, Nepal, MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES, CHILD UNDERNUTRITION, LINEAR GROWTH, FILIPINO CHILDREN, CAUSAL-DIAGRAMS, CATCH-UP, HEALTH, CONSEQUENCES, BANGLADESH, INDICATORS |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1522019 |
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