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Aim: This paper aimed to analyse the association between small for size at birth, stunting, recovery from stunting and pubertal development in a rural Bangladeshi cohort.Methods: The participants were 994 girls and 987 boys whose mothers participated in the Maternal and Infant Nutrition Interventions in Matlab trial. The birth cohort was followed from birth to puberty 2001-2017. Pubertal development according to Tanner was self-assessed. Age at menarche was determined and in boys, consecutive height measurements were used to ascertain whether pubertal growth spurt had started. The exposures and outcomes were modelled by Cox's proportional hazards analyses and logistic regression.Results: There was no difference in age at menarche between girls that were small or appropriate for gestational age at birth. Boys born small for gestational age entered their pubertal growth spurt later than those with appropriate weight. Children who were stunted had later pubertal development, age at menarche and onset of growth spurt than non-stunted children. Children who recovered from infant or early childhood stunting had similar pubertal development as non-stunted children.Conclusion: Infant and childhood stunting was associated with a later pubertal development. Recovery from stunting was not associated with earlier puberty in comparison with non-stunted children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: Constipation, faecal incontinence, soiling and difficult toilet training remain significant problems in children with Hirschsprung's disease after corrective surgery. Chronic defecation problems can have various negative implications. At the University Medical Centre Nijmegen, a multidisciplinary behavioural treatment was developed to treat defecation problems. In this paper, a prospective controlled study is presented concerning the effect of this treatment upon children suffering from chronic defecation problems following corrective surgery for Hirschsprung's disease. The effect of treatment was studied in 27 children (21M, 6F, mean age 5.2y, range 2-11 y). Fourteen children were allocated to the experimental treatment group. The 13 children allocated to the waiting-list control group were also treated following a waiting period of 6 mo. On all outcome variables, children in the experimental treatment group had significantly better results after treatment than children in the waiting-list control group after the waiting period. No effect of age upon treatment was found. The effect of treatment remained significant on all outcome variables at a mean follow-up of 7 mo after the end of treatment.Conclusion: Multidisciplinary behavioural treatment is successful in decreasing chronic defecation problems in children with Hirschsprung's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]