Catch-up growth does not associate with cognitive development in Indian school-age children

Abstract

Background/objectives: Stunting is significantly associated with lifetime morbidity and poorer cognitive outcomes in children. Although several studies have examined the relationship between stunting, catch-up growth and cognitive performance in young populations, this relationship has not yet been explored in school-aged children. In this study, we used data from three different nutritional intervention studies conducted over a 4-year period on school-age children in Bangalore, India to assess these relationships. Subjects/methods: A battery of cognitive tests was conducted before each intervention to determine whether stunting status at baseline was related to cognitive performance across four separate domains, and repeated after a 6-month period to assess whether changes to stunting status is related to cognitive advancement. Results: Results of independent t-tests showed that while stunted children had significantly poorer performance on short-term memory, retrieval ability and visuospatial ability tests (P=0. 023, 0. 026 and 0. 028, respectively), there was no significant difference in the change in cognitive scores following nutritional interventions over a 6-month period between those who remained stunted and those who were no longer stunted (P>0. 10). Conclusions: Evidently, stunting remains associated with cognitive ability in school-age children; however, the reversal of these effects in this age group may be quite difficult. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.