Adoption or placement in foster care and catch-up in linear growth and development: A meta-analysis of individual participant data

Simple item page
cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research instituteen
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Food Policy Research Instituteen
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of South Carolinaen
cg.contributor.crpAgriculture for Nutrition and Health
cg.contributor.donorBill & Melinda Gates Foundationen
cg.creator.identifierJef L Leroy: 0000-0001-9371-3832
cg.creator.identifierMoira L. Donahue Angel: 0000-0002-9732-3329
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2025.100395en
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Nutrition, Diets, and Health Unit
cg.identifier.publicationRankA Plus
cg.isijournalISI Journalen
cg.issn2161-8313en
cg.issue4en
cg.journalAdvances in Nutritionen
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
cg.subject.impactAreaNutrition, health and food security
cg.volume16en
dc.contributor.authorLeroy, Jef L.en
dc.contributor.authorAngel, Moira Donahueen
dc.contributor.authorFrongillo, Edward A.en
dc.date.accessioned2025-02-25T14:59:54Zen
dc.date.available2025-02-25T14:59:54Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/173389
dc.titleAdoption or placement in foster care and catch-up in linear growth and development: A meta-analysis of individual participant dataen
dcterms.abstractBackground The ability of children to recover from linear growth retardation, often referred to as catch-up growth, has intrigued researchers for many decades. Whether adoption from a low-to a high-income setting, which provides a comprehensive improvement in the conditions that cause children to not grow well, leads to catch-up growth is unknown. Objective We estimated the association of adoption (or placement in foster care) with catch-up in linear growth and child development before 5 years of age. Methods We conducted a two-stage meta-analysis using individual participant data for linear growth. We obtained study-specific and subgroup estimates and pooled the estimates using random-effects models. Sensitivity analyses were used to assess the robustness of our findings. A review of child development outcomes was conducted. Results We included 485 children under 5 years of age from 9 adoption studies. At baseline, children had a mean age of 15.8 mo and a length deficit of 3.9 cm. Adoption reduced this gap by 77% or 3.0 cm (95% CI: 1.9-4.1 cm)(mean age 32.3 mo). Catch-up growth was found in both girls (3.6 cm; 95% CI 2.9-4.2 cm) and boys (2.5 cm; 95% CI: 1.9-3.1 cm) and in children adopted after the age of 24 mo (2.2 cm, 95% CI 0.6-3.7 cm). The sensitivity analyses did not change any of the substantive findings. The magnitude of catch-up in child development (mean reduction in deficit of 46%) was smaller than in linear growth. Conclusions Catch-up in linear growth in children under five is biologically possible when the environment is improved profoundly and comprehensively. Partial reversal of the accumulated height deficit was more likely than recovery in developmental outcomes which highlights the need to ensure all children grow and develop in environments that prevent deficits from occurring rather than trying to correct them.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.audienceScientistsen
dcterms.available2025-02-22
dcterms.bibliographicCitationLeroy, Jef L.; Angel, Moira Donahue; and Frongillo, Edward A. 2025. Adoption or placement in foster care and catch-up in linear growth and development: A meta-analysis of individual participant data. Advances in Nutrition 16(4): 100395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2025.100395en
dcterms.issued2025-04
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherElsevieren
dcterms.subjectchild developmenten
dcterms.subjectchildrenen
dcterms.subjectgrowthen
dcterms.subjectstuntingen
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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