Perspective: Can growth monitoring and promotion accurately diagnose or screen for inadequate growth of individual children? A critical review of the epidemiological foundations

Simple item page
cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Food Policy Research Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of South Carolinaen_US
cg.contributor.donorBill & Melinda Gates Foundationen_US
cg.creator.identifierJef L Leroy: 0000-0001-9371-3832en_US
cg.creator.identifierRebecca Brander: 0000-0002-6156-0373en_US
cg.creator.identifierMarie Ruel: 0000-0002-9506-348Xen_US
cg.creator.identifierRasmi Avula: 0000-0003-0066-6964en_US
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2025.100367en_US
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Nutrition, Diets, and Health Uniten_US
cg.identifier.publicationRankA Plusen_US
cg.isijournalISI Journalen_US
cg.issn2161-8313en_US
cg.issue3en_US
cg.journalAdvances in Nutritionen_US
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen_US
cg.subject.impactAreaNutrition, health and food securityen_US
cg.volume16en_US
dc.contributor.authorLeroy, Jef L.en_US
dc.contributor.authorBrander, Rebecca L.en_US
dc.contributor.authorFrongillo, Edward A.en_US
dc.contributor.authorLarson, Leila M.en_US
dc.contributor.authorRuel, Marie T.en_US
dc.contributor.authorAvula, Rasmien_US
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-21T17:39:26Zen_US
dc.date.available2025-01-21T17:39:26Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/169581en_US
dc.titlePerspective: Can growth monitoring and promotion accurately diagnose or screen for inadequate growth of individual children? A critical review of the epidemiological foundationsen_US
dcterms.abstractGrowth monitoring and promotion (GMP), the process of periodic anthropometric measurements to assess the adequacy of individual child growth, is implemented across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The epidemiological foundations of GMP (i.e., that GMP can accurately diagnose or screen for inadequate growth) have never been critically reviewed. We first assessed growth patterns of individual healthy children. Using longitudinal data from low-, middle-, and high-income countries, we evaluated whether commonly used GMP criteria can be used for diagnosis and screening; i.e., if they accurately identify current, or predict subsequent, inadequate growth in individual children. The growth of individual healthy children does not track along a specific growth curve which challenges the notion that growth measurements alone can be used to distinguish between healthy and inadequate growth. We demonstrate that GMP criteria do not provide meaningful diagnostic information and that GMP is not a meaningful screening activity: commonly used GMP criteria are inaccurate predictors of (inadequate) growth later in childhood; and collecting individual children’s weight and height does not help to identify who needs support or who will benefit. Our results do not undermine the importance of dedicated programs to diagnose wasting in individual children nor do they challenge the need for well-child care to support parents and to ensure children’s optimal nutrition, health, and development. Our findings, however, highlight the need to carefully reconsider the current design of GMP in LMICs.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.audienceScientistsen_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationLeroy, Jef L.; Brander, Rebecca L.; Frongillo, Edward A.; Larson, Leila M.; Ruel, Marie T.; and Avula, Rasmi. 2025. Perspective: Can growth monitoring and promotion accurately diagnose or screen for inadequate growth of individual children? A critical review of the epidemiological foundations. Advances in Nutrition 16(3): 100367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2025.100367en_US
dcterms.issued2025-03en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.publisherElsevieren_US
dcterms.subjectchild growthen_US
dcterms.subjectdiagnosisen_US
dcterms.subjectepidemiologyen_US
dcterms.subjectscreeningen_US
dcterms.subjectstuntingen_US
dcterms.subjectundernutritionen_US
dcterms.subjectwastingen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

Files

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.75 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

IFPRI Journal Articles