ArticleEuropean journal of clinical nutrition2021
Stunting in infancy, pubertal trajectories and adult body composition: the Birth to Twenty Plus cohort, South Africa.
Article in European journal of clinical nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Anthropometric status, body composition and timing of pubertal milestones in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.BMC nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- The Impact of Early-Life Growth on Long-Term Cardiometabolic and Neurocognitive Outcomes in High-Income Countries: A Neglected Public Health Problem.Nutrition reviews · 2026Review
- Placental insufficiency and markers of fetal growth are associated with longitudinal infant growth and body composition trajectories up to two years of age.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Proximity of Maternal Time of Immigration to Child's Birth Is Associated With Autism Spectrum Disorder With Early Learning Delay Among Immigrant Populations in the United States: Findings From the Study to Explore Early Development.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2025Article
- The Updated Dual Burden of Malnutrition Among Vietnamese School-Aged Children: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Impact of Small-Quantity Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements on Pubertal Status of 9-13-Year Olds: A Follow-Up Study of the iLiNS-DYAD-Ghana Trial.Current developments in nutrition · 2024Article
- What values drive communities' nutrition priorities in a resource constrained urban area in South Africa?BMC public health · 2023Article
- Timing of Pubertal Development in Boys and Girls With Congenital Heart Defects: A Nationwide Cohort Study.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2022Article
- A growth area: A review of the value of clinical studies of child growth for palaeopathology.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2022Review
- Stunting among kindergarten children in China in the context of COVID-19: A cross-sectional study.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesChildhood rapid growth and earlier puberty onset have been associated with adult obesity. However, the association between childhood stunting, pubertal timing and adult obesity is unclear. We examined whether the relationship between stunting at age 2 years (y) and body composition at 23 years is mediated by adolescent body mass index, and pubertal development, using the Birth-to-Twenty Plus cohort (South Africa). SUBJECTS/
methodsFor 1036 participants, data on anthropometrics between birth and 23 years, maternal factors, and pubertal development (Tanner scale at 9-16 years) were collected. Stunting at 2 years (height-for-age z-score < -2), 5-18 years BMI-for-age trajectories, pubertal development trajectories, and DXA-derived fat mass (FM) and fat free mass (FFM) at 23 years were determined. Data were analysed using hierarchical regressions and structural equation models.
resultsStunting was directly associated with slower pubertal development and with shorter adult stature, but was not associated with adolescent BMI trajectories, adult FM or FFM. However, stunting was indirectly associated with adult FM and FFM through the direct associations between slower pubertal development and lower FM and between shorter height and lower FFM. BMI trajectories were independently associated with FM and FFM.
conclusionsBeing stunted in this population predicted adult body composition through slower pubertal development and shorter adult stature.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.