Growth Retardation among Children in Southern Iran: A 7-year Population Based Cohort Study

Background: Growth retardation is a common health problem, which requires early prevention and detection. This study was conducted to define the approximate age at which stunting starts among the Iranian boys and girls.Method The second phase of a population based cohort nested case-control study on 400 children who were followed from birth to 7 years of age. This study was performed to define the pattern of growth among stunted and normal children and to reveal the age at which stunting starts in each gender.Results For boys the height was relatively similar between the two groups until the age 6 months at which the difference in height between normal and stunted children starts to become significantly large (difference= 0.70 cm, P=0.04). For girls, height in the two groups is relatively similar until the age of 9 months at which the difference starts to become significantly large (difference=0.97 cm, P=0.01). No significant difference in the weight of the girls was observed between the normal and stunted groups during the study period (difference=283.21 gr, P>0.05). However, boys from the stunted group were lighter since almost the same time that they started to become significantly shorter (difference= 1265.19 gr, P=0.001).Conclusions Soon after birth (at about 6 months of age), the growth pattern of some (stunted) children starts to stumble and divert from normal. Six month is the age at which mothers start weaning with withdrawing breast milk and start supplementary foods and adult diet. A specially designed study is needed to understand the actual reason for observing such a phenomenon among Iranian children.