Is Early Puberty Triggered by Catch-Up Growth Following Undernutrition?

Is Early Puberty Triggered by Catch-Up Growth Following Undernutrition?

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 reha...

Catch up growth following abuse.

Poor growth in association with child abuse is well recognised, but the eventual outcome with respect to growth has not been clearly defined. In a study of 95 children who had suffered child abuse standard deviation (SD) scores for height and weight were significantly below the mean at presentation and improved at follow up. Sixty four children who remained at home showed significant increase i...

Malnutrition and Catch-Up Growth during Childhood and Puberty.

This chapter reviews important recent papers related to catch-up growth. Catch-up growth is generally defined as body growth that (1) is more rapid than normal for age and (2) follows a period of growth inhibition. As can be seen by the studies reviewed in this chapter, catch-up growth can occur after either preor postnatal growth inhibition, can show a variety of temporal patterns, and can be ...

Catch-up Growth

Catch-up growth.

Catch-up growth, defined as growth velocity above the statistical limits of normality for age or maturity during a defined period of time, is distinguished from compensatory growth since it makes up for a potential loss rather than an actual loss and is seen in the whole body as opposed to specific organs. The cellular explanation for catch-up based on the work of Winick is described and a rece...