Undernutrition and Child Development

TLDR

Social factors such as paternal separation, alcohol problems, poverty, and many young siblings are associated with undernutrition. Infants hospitalized for undernutrition exhibit lasting growth and developmental deficits, with poorer outcomes linked to longer duration and more pronounced deficits when undernutrition occurs after four months of age.

Abstract

When 19 children who had been hospitalized with undernutrition in the first year of life were compared with a control group three to four years later, the test group was found to be lower in height, weight, head circumference and developmental quotient. Impairment of physical and mental development appeared to correlate with the duration of undernutrition in the first year of life. Nine children admitted to the hospital with undernutrition but treated in the first four months of life now have a mean developmental quotient of 95, which is similar to the mean of 99 for the control children. In 10 with undernutrition after four months of age low indexes for height, weight and head circumference were more frequent, and the mean developmental quotient was 70. Social factors associated with undernutrition included paternal separation, alcohol-related problems, inadequate money and many young siblings.