Author/Editor | Kapetanović-Žiher, T; Kolaček, S; Pluščec-Zimolo, A | |
Title | Nutritional status in early childhood - a predictor of subsequent growth | |
Type | članek | |
Source | Arh Zašt Majke Djeteta | |
Vol. and No. | Letnik 35, št. 1 | |
Publication year | 1991 | |
Volume | str. 19-29 | |
Language | eng | |
Abstract | The authors examined 493 adolescents at the age of 18 to 21, whose nutritional status had been assessed up to the third year of life. In both tests the same methods of measuring weight, height, left mid-arm circumference, skinfold triceps and subscapular were applied. The nutritional status was estimated on the basis of the relative weight and body mass index. The aim od the study was to find out whether and to what degree nourishment in early childhood influences the growth process. The subjects were divided into three groups according to the nutritional status assessed in the first test. The subjects of both sexes who had been overweight and obese in early childhood became the tallest, whereas the undernourished remained the shortest. The circumferences among the groups were examined by the analysis of variance and the differences for all anthropometric variables are statistically significant. In addition, the regression factor analysis has shown that the overweight and obese remained bigger in size and constitution as compared to other groups. The study has shown that growth is dependent on the nutritional status in early childhood. It has also shown that undernourishment is a factor which diminishes the genetic potential of growth. Obesity in early childhood is also a risk factor because, in comparison with other groups, a greater number of subjects remain obese in later life | |
Descriptors | NUTRITIONAL STATUS GROWTH BODY WEIGHT BODY HEIGHT BODY MASS INDEX SKINFOLD THICKNESS ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE FACTOR ANALYSIS, STATISTICAL INFANT CHILD, PRESCHOOL ADOLESCENCE |