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Stunting and underweight greater among boys than girls in rural southwest Nigeria
Author(s) -
Luke Amy,
Omotade Olayemi,
Ayoola Omolola,
Adeyemo Adebowale,
Brieger William,
Salami Kabiru,
Tayo Bamidele
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a313
Subject(s) - underweight , overweight , malnutrition , demography , medicine , pediatrics , weight for age , rural area , wasting , malnutrition in children , body mass index , pathology , sociology , endocrinology
In a family study of hypertension and associated risk factors that has spanned over 12 years among the Yorubas of rural southwest Nigeria, we used a standardized protocol and measured height and weight to assess stunting and underweight among children in 2 villages. Stunting was defined as > 2 standard deviations (SD) below World Health Organization standards for mean height‐for‐age and underweight as > 2 SD below mean BMI‐for‐age. Children and adolescents aged 5–20 y were included: 326 boys, 297 girls. Mean height, weight and BMI did not differ between boys and girls. Boys, however, had a higher prevalence of stunting at every age than girls (p<0.05), reaching a maximum of 60% of the boys stunted at 13–16 years compared to 26% of the girls at those ages. By age 16 y, the girls on average had reached adult height while boys continued linear growth until their very late teens or early 20s. While 15% of both pre‐adolescent boys and girls were underweight, by adolescence, 31% of the boys compared to only 13% of the girls were underweight. No child met the criterion for overweight. In conclusion, stunting is prevalent among rural Yoruba children and adolescents, leading to delayed pubertal growth predominantly in boys. Undernutrition is a common feature of childhood in these communities, with a significantly greater impact on males that needs further study.