ArticleMaternal & child nutrition2018
Association between stunting and early childhood development among children aged 36-59 months in South Asia.
Article in Maternal & child nutrition, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early neurological development and nutritional status in Mexican socially deprived contexts.PloS one · 2022Trial
- From Preconception to Postnatal: Parental Risk Factors for Fetal-Infant Growth Faltering in LMICs-a Scoping Review (2020-2025).Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2026Review
- Validation of the Child Development Card (KKA) as a growth and development tool for stunted and normal children in West Java, Indonesia.Global health action · 2025Article
- Growth and Development Status of Children Post-COVID-19 Infection: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study.Asian/Pacific Island nursing journal · 2025Article
- Effects of disability on early childhood development in 3 to 4-year-old children in three South Asian countries: evidence from multiple indicators cluster surveys.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
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- Prevalence and factors contributing to stunted growth in young children of Khordha district, Odisha: A cross-sectional study.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2024Article
- Early childhood development and nutritional status in urban Ethiopia.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Article
- Effects of disability on adverse health outcomes and anthropometric deficits among under-five children in South Asian countries: evidence from multiple indicator cluster surveys.The Lancet regional health. Southeast Asia · 2024Article
- Healthy eating encouragement and socio-demographic factors associated with cognitive development among pre-schoolers: a cross-sectional evaluation in Nepal.European journal of public health · 2024Article
- Examining the Utility of the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) among Children in the Nigeria Context.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Early childhood development status and associated factors among preschool children attending routine well clinics in Temeke Municipal, Dar es Salaam-Tanzania: a cross-sectional study.The Pan African medical journal · 2024Article
- Is child anemia associated with early childhood development? A cross-sectional analysis of nine Demographic and Health Surveys.PloS one · 2024Article
- Early childhood developmental status and its associated factors in Bangladesh: a comparison of two consecutive nationally representative surveys.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Socioeconomic and education-based inequality in suspected developmental delays among Nepalese children: a subnational level assessment.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Early childhood development and its association with maternal parity.Child: care, health and development · 2023Article
- Proximal determinants of suboptimal early child development during the first three years of life in socially deprived Mexican contexts.PloS one · 2023Article
- High doses of a national preschool program are associated with the long-term mitigation of adverse outcomes in cognitive development and life satisfaction among children who experience early stunting: a multi-site longitudinal study in Vietnam.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Stunting (length-for-age z score < -2) before 2 years of age has shown associations with poor child developmental indicators, but information at the population level is scarce in South Asia, the region with the highest burden of stunting. We examined associations between z scores (i.e., height for age [HAZ], weight for age [WAZ], and weight for height [WHZ]) and undernutrition (i.e., stunting [HAZ < -2], wasting [WHZ < -2], and underweight [WAZ < -2]) with learning/cognition and social-emotional development among children 36-59 months of age. Data from Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys in Bangladesh (n = 8,659), Bhutan (n = 2,038), Nepal (n = 2,253), and Pakistan (Punjab n = 11,369 and Sindh n = 6,718) were used. Children were considered developmentally "on-track" in learning/cognition or social-emotional domains if they met specific early child development criteria. Meta-analysis was conducted to examine regional associations, adjusting for socio-economic status, early childhood education, and quality of care. In a pooled sample, on-track learning/cognition development was positively associated with HAZ (OR = 1.17, 95% CI [1.07, 1.27]) and WAZ (OR = 1.18, 95% CI [1.07, 1.31]) and negatively associated with stunting (OR = 0.72, 95% CI [0.60, 0.86]) and underweight (OR = 0.75, 95% CI [0.66, 0.86]) but not associated with WHZ or wasting. On-track development of social-emotional domain was not associated with any z scores or undernutrition indicators. Across several countries of South Asia, stunted children were less likely to be developmentally "on track" for learning/cognition. It is likely that interventions that prevent stunting may benefit child development, leading to significant individual and societal gains given the large burden of child stunting in regions like South Asia.
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