ArticleThe Lancet. Global health2023
Early-life stature, preschool cognitive development, schooling attainment, and cognitive functioning in adulthood: a prospective study in four birth cohorts.
Article in The Lancet. Global health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Is Neurodevelopmental Assessment in Early Childhood Predictive of Performance Assessed Later in Childhood and Adolescence in Sub-Saharan Africa? A Systematic Review of the Literature.Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists · 2024Pooled it
- Impact of an integrated parenting and nutrition intervention on growth and development in stunted children at 24 months: evidence from the Stepping Stones programme in rural India.BMJ global health · 2026Trial
- Effects of Cooking with Liquefied Petroleum Gas or Biomass Fuels on Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Preschool-Age Children Living in Puno, Peru.Environmental health perspectives · 2025Trial
- Understanding modifiable caregiver factors contributing to child development among young children in rural Malawi.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Trial
- Childhood Linear Growth and Early Morbidity as Predictors of Adolescent Cognitive Ability in Malawi: A Prospective Observational Study.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2026Observational
- The effect of early childhood stature on later cognitive functions in Indonesian adolescents: comparation using the National growth reference and the WHO growth standard.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- A non-specialist worker delivered digital assessment of cognitive development (DEEP) in young children: A longitudinal validation study in rural India.PLOS digital health · 2025Article
- Eco-anxiety, climate change and the 'bottom billion': a plea for better understanding.BMJ mental health · 2025Article
- Women's health and well-being in five birth cohorts from low- and middle-income countries: Domains and their associations with early-life conditions.Journal of global health · 2024Article
- Educational Attainment and Later-Life Cognitive Function in High- and Middle-Income Countries: Evidence From the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2024Article
- Mental fatigue mediates the relationship between qi deficiency and academic performance among fifth-grade students aged 10-13 years.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Growth in Infancy and Childhood and Age at Menarche in Five Low- or Middle-Income Countries: Consortium of Health Orientated Research in Transitional Societies (COHORTS).The Journal of nutrition · 2023Article
- Stunting: methodological considerations for improved study design and reporting.BMJ paediatrics open · 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
15 authors at 8 institutions in 6 countries.
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Abstract
backgroundNutrition is important for growth and brain development and therefore cognitive ability. Growth faltering in early childhood, an important indicator of early adversity, is associated with poorer developmental outcomes, some into adulthood, but this association probably reflects early-life deprivation. We aimed to investigate the associations between early-life stature, child IQ, and adult IQ.
methodsIn this cohort study, we used prospective longitudinal data collected in four birth cohorts from Brazil (born in 1993), Guatemala (born in 1969-77), the Philippines (born in 1983-84), and South Africa (born in 1990). Using multivariable linear models, we estimated the relative contributions of early-life stature, child IQ, and schooling (highest school year completed) to adult IQ, including interaction effects among the early-childhood measures and schooling.
findingsWe included 2614 individuals in the analysis. Early-life stature was associated with adult IQ (range across eight site-by-sex groups -0·14 to 3·17 IQ points) and schooling (-0·05 to 0·77 years) per height-for-age Z-score. These associations were attenuated when controlling for child IQ (-0·86 to 1·72 for adult IQ and -0·5 to 0·60 for schooling). The association of early-life stature with adult IQ was further attenuated when controlling for schooling (-1·86 to 1·21). Child IQ was associated with adult IQ (range 3·91 to 10·02 points) and schooling (0·25 to 1·30 years) per SD of child IQ in all groups; these associations were unattenuated by the addition of early-life stature to the models. The interaction between schooling and child IQ, but not that between schooling and early-life stature, was positively associated with adult IQ across groups.
interpretationThe observed associations of early-life stature with adult IQ and schooling varied across cohorts and sexes and explained little variance in adult IQ beyond that explained by child IQ. These findings suggest that interventions targeted at growth for health and early development are important. Our results are consistent with the inference that improving long-term cognitive outcomes might require interventions that more specifically target early cognitive ability.
fundingBill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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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.