• Proos L, Gustafsson J.
• Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2012 May;9(5):1791-809. doi: 10.3390/ijerph9051791. Epub 2012 May 9.
• Source: Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, SE-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden. lemm.proos@kbh.uu.se
• PMID: 22754473 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
  PMCID: PMC3386588

Abstract

Undernutrition during fetal and postnatal life is still a major problem in many low- and middle-income countries. Even in high-income countries malnutrition may exist in cases of intrauterine growth retardation, as well as in chronic conditions such as anorexia nervosa and inflammatory bowel disease. Children adopted from developing countries are often chronically malnourished. Nutritional rehabilitation, resulting in catch-up growth, is often complicated by influences originating in fetal life as well as during postnatal growth. This may result in hormonal and metabolic changes as well as alterations in pubertal development. The present review focuses on fetal, postnatal and fetal-postnatal undernutrition and subsequent catch-up growth as well as catch-up growth in relation to pubertal development. Catch-up growth in children can be associated with early puberty following fetal or combined fetal-postnatal undernutrition. However, early puberty does not seem to occur following catch-up growth after isolated postnatal undernutrition. Gonadotropins have been reported to be elevated in prepubertal adopted girls as well as during catch-up growth in animals. Even if other factors may contribute, linear catch-up growth seems to be associated with the timing of pubertal development. The mechanisms behind this are still unknown. Future research may elucidate how to carry out nutritional rehabilitation without risk for early pubertal development.

Analysis & Interpretation

The main conclusion made by the author of the article is that linear catch-up growth seems to be associated with the timing of pubertal development.  One of the main ideas we as height increase researchers have always believed is that the onset of puberty means that the end of growth has been initiated. I personally believe from the research is that if puberty is never initiated in terms of excess estrogen being released into the system, the rate at which chondrocytes in the resting zone of the growth plate are being used up will not be great enough to completely result in all the chondrocytes being used up but that their will be some chondrogenic process going on in the epiphysis causing the progenitor mesenchyme to differentiate into newly formed chondrocytes thus replenishing the numer of chondrocytes in the resting zone.

There is no doubt that malnutrition which will lead to stunted growth rates and decreased final height is a big problem is mostly developing and even some developed nations, due to poor eating habits where children who are still growing go for the food with very little nutrients. It seems that not only malnutrition, anorexia nervosa and inflammatory bowel disease also leads to stunted growth. As for the developing nations, it seems that when children is taken out of these nutrition deprived places and placed in nations where the nutrition is high, their bodies go into the process of  “catch-up growth” which is the bodies of way of accelerating the longitudinal growth oto sort of “catch-up” to watch its supposed growth would supposed to be if the individual was born in a nation where the nutrition was at the appropriate higher levels.

The researcher does note this point though….

“However, early puberty does not seem to occur following catch-up growth after isolated postnatal undernutrition”

I am not sure what this phrase means exactly. Does this mean that if a children is taken from a country of undernutrition where they were isolated from other people, the catchup growth they get after being transplanted to a nation with better nutrition, they would not develop early puberty?

I understand the main point the researcher is trying to make but I do hope that they can explain this phrase though.

Implications For Height Increase

This shows that in general, there might be a way to help children with stunted growth which parents might try to adopt from poorer nation. However, the catch-up growth seen in the child may just be another indicator that they will ultimately end up with a decreased final height since the elevated hormones associated with the dramatic change in in the amount of nutrition the child is getting from a change in countries results in the earlier initiation of puberty. For the parents who want to make sure their adopted child gets to grow to be the tallest that they can, it might be a better idea to not increase the nutrition rate so dramatically to push back the onset of puberty to give the child’s body more time to grow taller.