ArticlePublic health nutrition2021
Aflatoxin exposure was not associated with childhood stunting: results from a birth cohort study in a resource-poor setting of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of adverse health effects associated with mycotoxin exposure.Environment international · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review with meta-analysis of the relation of aflatoxin B1 to growth impairment in infants/children.BMC pediatrics · 2023Pooled it
- Nutrient Intake and Dietary Adequacy Among Rural Tanzanian Infants Enrolled in the Mycotoxin Mitigation Trial.Nutrients · 2024Trial
- Food-Borne Environmental Contaminants, Intestinal Injury, and Early Childhood Stunting: A Developmental Toxicology Perspective.Birth defects research · 2026Review
- Aflatoxins and Human Health: Global Exposure, Disease Burden, and One Health Strategies.Toxins · 2026Review
- Review
- The Difficulties in Demonstrating That Aflatoxin Reduction Improves Stunting in Developing World Regions.Toxins · 2026Review
- Review
- Review
- Assessment of aflatoxin exposure, growth faltering and the gut microbiome among children in rural Guatemala: protocol for an observational prospective cohort and bioreactor simulations.BMJ paediatrics open · 2023Article
- Article
- Exposure to multiple mycotoxins, environmental enteric dysfunction and child growth: Results from the AflaCohort Study in Banke, Nepal.Maternal & child nutrition · 2022Article
- Longitudinal Assessment of Prenatal, Perinatal, and Early-Life Aflatoxin BCurrent developments in nutrition · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveChronic aflatoxin exposure has been associated with childhood stunting (length-for-age/height-for-age < -2 sd), while data lacks for Bangladesh, a country with substantial burden of childhood stunting. This paper examined the association between aflatoxin exposure and childhood stunting in a slum setting of Dhaka city.
designIn this MAL-ED aflatoxin birth cohort study, plasma samples were assayed for aflatoxin B1-lysine adduct (AFB1-lys) by MS at 7, 15, 24 and 36 months of age for 208, 196, 173 and 167 children to assess chronic aflatoxin exposure. Relationship between aflatoxin exposure and anthropometric measures was examined by mixed-effects logistic regression models. SETTING AND
participantsThe study was conducted in Mirpur, Dhaka, where children were followed from birth to 36 months.
resultsPrevalence of stunting increased from 21 % at 7 months to 49 % at 36 months of age. Mean AFB1-lys concentrations at 7, 15, 24 and 36 months were 1·30 (range 0·09-5·79), 1·52 (range 0·06-6·35), 3·43 (range 0·15-65·60) and 3·70 (range 0·09-126·54) pg/mg albumin, respectively, and the percentage of children with detectable AFB1-lys was 10, 21, 18 and 62 %, respectively. No association was observed between aflatoxin exposure and stunting in multivariable analyses. Factors associated with childhood stunting were age, low birth weight, maternal height, stool myeloperoxidase and number of people sleeping in one room.
conclusionsA relatively lower exposure to aflatoxin may not influence the linear growth of children. This finding indicates a threshold level of exposure for linear growth deficit and further investigation in other areas where higher concentrations of aflatoxin exposure exist.
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