Dorjee Binu, Bogin Barry, Scheffler Christiane, Groth Detlef, Sen Jaydip, Hermanussen Michael
University of North Bengal, Department of Anthropology, Raja Rammohunpur, Darjeeling, West Bengal 734013, India.
Loughborough University, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, LE11 3TU, UK.
Anthropol Anz. 2020 May 13;77(5):389-398. doi: 10.1127/anthranz/2020/1174.
Influence of nutrition in human growth failure, especially stunting, is a well-accepted idea. The present study assesses the influence of nutrition and non-nutritional factors on height growth in a short stature population. The present study was conducted among the children and adolescents of Sikkim, India. The sample size was 538 (boys and girls) of age 2-18 years. The anthropometric indices mid upper arm circumference-for-age Z-scores (MUACZ) and BMI-for-age Z-scores (BAZ) were utilised as proxy of nutritional status and growth was assessed using height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ). Associations were assessed using correlation, St. Nicolas house analysis (SNHA), principal component analysis (PCA) and regression. Nutritional status of the participating children and adolescents as assessed by MUACZ and BAZ were largely normal. Despite variation in HAZ from -4 to +2 there was no influence of the nutritional indices on height. Further, there was clear lack of association between HAZ and socio-economic variables in the present study. The findings of the present study suggest nutrition is not the primary regulator of human growth. The possible influence of community effects on height is discussed.
营养对人类生长发育不良尤其是发育迟缓的影响是一个被广泛认可的观点。本研究评估了营养和非营养因素对身材矮小人群身高增长的影响。本研究在印度锡金邦的儿童和青少年中进行。样本量为538名年龄在2至18岁的儿童（包括男孩和女孩）。采用年龄别上臂围Z评分（MUACZ）和年龄别体重指数Z评分（BAZ）作为营养状况的指标，并用年龄别身高Z评分（HAZ）评估生长情况。通过相关性分析、圣尼古拉斯之家分析（SNHA）、主成分分析（PCA）和回归分析来评估关联。通过MUACZ和BAZ评估的参与研究的儿童和青少年的营养状况基本正常。尽管HAZ在-4至+2之间有所变化，但营养指标对身高没有影响。此外，在本研究中HAZ与社会经济变量之间明显缺乏关联。本研究结果表明营养不是人类生长的主要调节因素。文中讨论了社区效应对身高可能产生的影响。
