Desmond Chris, Casale Daniela
Developmental Pathways to Health Research Unit, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
School of Economic and Business Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
PLoS One. 2017 Dec 13;12(12):e0189135. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189135. eCollection 2017.
This paper examines the incidence and correlates of linear growth catch up in early childhood among stunted children, using a range of definitions of catch up. Catch-up growth between two and five years of age is defined in both absolute terms (i.e. the centimetre height deficit from the healthy reference population mean is reduced) and relative terms (the height-for-age z-score improved or passed the -2SD or -1SD cut-off points). Data from a cohort study from urban South Africa are used to estimate the percentage of children who caught up and the predictors of catch-up growth according to these varying definitions. The results show that our sample of stunted children exhibits catch-up growth regardless of the definition used, however prevalence of catch up is highly sensitive to the way catch up is classified, ranging from 19%-93%. Of the biological, early growth, socioeconomic status and maternal reproductive variables included in the multivariate probit regressions, only a few were found to be consistent predictors of the incidence of catch-up growth. Mother's height was positively correlated with the incidence of catch-up growth and early stunting at one year was associated with a lower likelihood of subsequent catch up.
本文使用一系列追赶生长的定义，研究了发育迟缓儿童在幼儿期线性生长追赶的发生率及其相关因素。2至5岁儿童的追赶生长，从绝对意义上定义（即与健康参考人群平均身高的厘米差距缩小），也从相对意义上定义（年龄别身高Z评分改善或超过-2SD或-1SD的临界值）。来自南非城市队列研究的数据，被用于估计根据这些不同定义实现追赶生长的儿童比例以及追赶生长的预测因素。结果表明，无论使用何种定义，我们的发育迟缓儿童样本均表现出追赶生长，然而，追赶生长的患病率对追赶生长的分类方式高度敏感，范围从19%至93%。在多变量概率回归中纳入的生物学、早期生长、社会经济地位和母亲生殖变量中，只有少数被发现是追赶生长发生率的一致预测因素。母亲的身高与追赶生长的发生率呈正相关，一岁时的早期发育迟缓与随后追赶生长的可能性较低有关。
