Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Feb 16;92(1):e2021168.
doi: 10.23750/abm.v92i1.11346.

Early and Long-term Consequences of Nutritional Stunting: From Childhood to Adulthood

Vincenzo De Sanctis  1 , Ashraf Soliman  2 , Nada Alaaraj  3 , Shayma Ahmed  4 , Fawziya Alyafei  5 , Noor Hamed  6
Affiliations
Review

Early and Long-term Consequences of Nutritional Stunting: From Childhood to Adulthood

Vincenzo De Sanctis et al. Acta Biomed. .

Abstract

Linear growth failure (stunting) in childhood is the most prevalent form of undernutrition globally. The debate continues as to whether children who become stunted before age 24 months can catch up in growth and cognitive functions later in their lives. The potentially irreparable physical and neurocognitive damage that accompanies stunted growth is a major obstacle to human development. This review aims at evaluation and summarizing the published research covering the different aspects of stunting from childhood to adulthood.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Each author declares that he or she has no commercial associations (e.g. consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangement etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
UNICEF Categories of undernutrition in children.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
mTOR complex role in the pathogenesis of stunting.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Pathophysiologic mechanisms affecting linear growth during malnutrition.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Endocrine adaptation mechanisms during malnutrition.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. UNICEF. Improving Child Nutrition. The achievable imperative for global progress. UNICEF. 2013 https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/stats_popup2.html .
    1. Semali IA, Tengia-Kessy A, Mmbaga EJ, Leyna G. Prevalence and determinants of stunting in under-five children in central Tanzania: remaining threats to achieving Millennium development goal 4. BMC Public Health. 2015:4–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Francisco J, Ferrer L, Serra-Majem L. Factors associated with stunting among children. Nutrients. 2017;9:1–16. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Caleyachetty R, Thomas GN, Kengne AP, et al. The double burden of malnutrition among adolescents: analysis of data from the Global School-Based Student Health and Health Behavior in School-Aged Children surveys in 57 low-and middle-income countries. Am J Clin Nutr. 2018;108:414–424. - PubMed
    1. Kramer CV, Allen S. Malnutrition in developing countries. Paediatr Child Health. 2015;25:422–427.