Linear Growth through 12 Years is Weakly but Consistently Associated with Language and Math Achievement Scores at Age 12 Years in 4 Low- or Middle-Income Countries.

Background: Whether linear growth through age 12 y is associated with language and math achievement at age 12 y remains unclear.

Objective: Our objective was to investigate associations of linear growth through age 12 y with reading skill, receptive vocabulary, and mathematics performance at age 12 y in 4 low- or middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods: We analyzed data from the Young Lives Younger Cohort study in Ethiopia (n = 1275), India (n = 1350), Peru (n = 1402), and Vietnam (n = 1594).

Disparities in children's vocabulary and height in relation to household wealth and parental schooling: A longitudinal study in four low- and middle-income countries.

Children from low socio-economic status (SES) households often demonstrate worse growth and developmental outcomes than wealthier children, in part because poor children face a broader range of risk factors. It is difficult to characterize the trajectories of SES disparities in low- and middle-income countries because longitudinal data are infrequently available. We analyze measures of children's linear growth (height) at ages 1, 5, 8 and 12y and receptive language (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test) at ages 5, 8 and 12y in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam in relation to household SES, measured by parental schooling or household assets.

Growth recovery and faltering through early adolescence in low- and middle-income countries: Determinants and implications for cognitive development.

Child chronic undernutrition, as measured by stunting, is prevalent in low- and middle-income countries and is among the major threats to child development. While stunting and its implications for cognitive development have been considered irreversible beyond early childhood there is a lack of consensus in the literature on this, as there is some evidence of recovery from stunting and that this recovery may be associated with improvements in cognition. Less is known however, about the drivers of growth recovery and the aspects of recovery linked to cognitive development.

Growth trajectories from conception through middle childhood and cognitive achievement at age 8 years: Evidence from four low- and middle-income countries.

Child chronic malnutrition is endemic in low- and middle-income countries and deleterious for child development. Studies investigating the relationship between nutrition at different periods of childhood, as measured by growth in these periods (growth trajectories), and cognitive development have produced mixed evidence. Although an explanation of this has been that different studies use different approaches to model growth trajectories, the differences across approaches are not well understood.

Factors associated with cognitive achievement in late childhood and adolescence: the Young Lives cohort study of children in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam.

Background: There is a well-established link between various measures of socioeconomic status and the schooling achievement and cognition of children. However, less is known about how cognitive development is impacted by childhood improvements in growth, a common indicator of child nutritional status. This study examines the relationship between socioeconomic status and child growth and changes in cognitive achievement scores in adolescents from resource-poor settings.

Growth faltering and recovery in children aged 1-8 years in four low- and middle-income countries: Young Lives.

Objective: We characterized post-infancy child growth patterns and determined the incidence of becoming stunted and of recovery from stunting.

Design: Data came from Young Lives, a longitudinal study of childhood poverty in four low- and middle-income countries.

Setting: We analysed length/height measurements for children at ages 1, 5 and 8 years.

Postinfancy growth, schooling, and cognitive achievement: Young Lives.

Background: Early life growth failure and resulting cognitive deficits are often assumed to be very difficult to reverse after infancy.

Objective: We used data from Young Lives, which is an observational cohort of 8062 children in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam, to determine whether changes in growth after infancy are associated with schooling and cognitive achievement at age 8 y.

Design: We represented the growth by height-for-age z score at 1 y [HAZ(1)] and height-for-age z score at 8 y that was not predicted by the HAZ(1).