Fasting levels of serum glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride at age eleven to twelve years in stunted and non-stunted Jamaican children.

AIM

To determine whether fasting serum concentrations of glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride at age 11-12 y (a) differed between children stunted in early childhood and those who were never stunted, (b) were related to birthweight or current anthropometry and (c) were related to stunting after controlling for current size.

METHODS

Anthropometry, serum glucose and lipid concentrations were measured in 112 children stunted in early childhood and 181 non-stunted children.

RESULTS

Children who were stunted in infancy remained shorter, weighed less and were significantly less fat than non-stunted children but had a more central distribution of fat. They were also less likely to have entered puberty. Non-stunted children had higher fasting serum triglyceride concentrations than stunted children (p < 0.05). There were no significant correlations between birthweight and fasting glucose or any measure of serum lipids. The percentage of variance in biochemical measures explained by anthropometry was low: between 2.1 for HDL cholesterol and 14.6 for triglyceride. Nutritional status in early childhood (stunted or non-stunted) made no additional contribution to the variance.

CONCLUSIONS

Linear growth retardation in early childhood was not independently related to fasting serum concentrations of glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride at age 11-12 y. However, despite being thinner, stunted children had a more central distribution of fat.