Successive 1-Month Weight Increments in Infancy Can Be Used to Screen for Faltering Linear Growth

Background: Linear growth faltering in the first 2 y contributes greatly to a high stunting burden, and prevention is hampered by the limited capacity in primary health care for timely screening and intervention. Objective: This study aimed to determine an approach to predicting long-term stunting from consecutive 1-mo weight increments in the first year of life. Methods: By using the reference sample of the WHO velocity standards, the analysis explored patterns of consecutive monthly weight increments among healthy infants. Four candidate screening thresholds of successive increments that could predict stunting were considered, and one was selected for further testing. The selected threshold was applied in a cohort of Bangladeshi infants to assess its predictive value for stunting at ages 12 and 24 mo. Results: Between birth and age 12 mo, 72.6% of infants in the WHO sample tracked within 1 SD of their weight and length. The selected screening criterion ( event ) was 2 consecutive monthly increments below the 15th percentile. Bangladeshi infants were born relatively small and, on average, tracked downward from approximately age 6 to (51% stunted). The population-attributable risk of stunting associated with the event was 14% at 12 mo and 9% at 24 mo. Assuming the screening strategy is effective, the estimated preventable proportion in the group who experienced the event would be 34% at 12 mo and 24% at 24 mo. Conclusions: This analysis offers an approach for frontline workers to identify children at risk of stunting, allowing for timely initiation of preventive measures. It opens avenues for further investigation into evidence-informed application of the WHO growth velocity standards

Fetal, neonatal, infant, and child international growth standards: an unprecedented opportunity for an integrated approach to assess growth and development.

The recent publication of fetal growth and gestational age-specific growth standards by the International Fetal and Newborn Growth Consortium for the 21st Century Project and the previous publication by the WHO of infant and young child growth standards based on the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study enable evaluations of growth from ∼9 wk gestation to 5 y. The most important features of these projects are the prescriptive approach used for subject selection and the rigorous testing of the assertion that growth is very similar among geographically and ethnically diverse nonisolated populations when health, nutrition, and other care needs are met and the environment imposes minimal constraints on growth. Both studies documented that with adequate controls, the principal source of variability in growth during gestation and early childhood resides among individuals. Study sites contributed much less to observed variability. The agreement between anthropometric measurements common to both studies also is noteworthy. Jointly, these studies provide for the first time, to my knowledge, a conceptually consistent basis for worldwide and localized assessments and comparisons of growth performance in early life. This is an important contribution to improving the health care of children across key periods of growth and development, especially given the appropriate interest in pursuing optimal health in the first 1000 d, i.e., the period covering fertilization/implantation, gestation, and postnatal life to 2 y of age

Esverdeamento e brotação em cultivares alemães e holandeses de batata Observations on greening and sprout growth in german and dutch potato varieties

<abstract language="eng">Nineteen German and five Dutch potato varieties were observed in relation to greening and sprout growth development in the tubers. The Dutch varieties Jaerla and Bintje and the German varieties Atica, Emergo and Topi were less susceptible to greening, but all the others in the second reading, 10 days after light exposition, showed the skin green or very green. Jetta, Broca, Wiebke, Palma, Lux, Rubin and Salvia, 5 days after light exposition also showed similar results. The varieties that showed early sprout growth were Omega, Jaerla and Bintje, being the latter slower in relation to development. Geelbling, Salvia and Spunta are late sprout growth varieties