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Background WHO documents characterize stunting as, '...impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation.' The equation of stunting with malnutrition is common. This contrasts with historic and modern observations indicating that growth in height is largely independent of the extent and nature of the diet. Subjects We measured 1716 Indonesian children, aged 6.0-13.2 years, from urban Kupang/West-Timor and rural Soe/West-Timor, urban Ubud/Bali, and rural Marbau/North Sumatra. We clinically assessed signs of malnutrition and skin infections. Results There was no relevant correlation between nutritional status (indicated by skinfold thickness) and height SDS (hSDS). In total 53% of boys, and 46% girls in rural Soe were stunted, with no meaningful association between mean of triceps and subscapular skinfolds (xÌSF) and height. Skinfold thickness was close to German values. Shortest and tallest children did not differ relevantly in skinfold thickness. The same applied for the association between hSDS and mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) using linear mixed effects models with both fixed and random effects. In total 35.6% boys and 29.2% girls in urban Ubud were overweight; 21.4% boys and 12.4% girls obese, but with mean hSDS = -0.3, still short. Relevant associations between hSDS and xÌSF and MUAC were only found among the overweight urban children confirming that growth is accelerated in overweight and obese children. There were no visible clinical signs of malnutrition or chronic infection in the stunted children. Conclusion The present data seriously question the concept of stunting as prima facie evidence of malnutrition and chronic infection., Author(s): C. Scheffler [sup.1] , M. Hermanussen [sup.2] , B. Bogin [sup.3] , D. S. Liana [sup.4] , F. Taolin [sup.5] , P. M. V. P. Cempaka [sup.5] , M. [...]

Birth weights and growth rates were studied for infants and children in South Africa's Soweto-Johannesburg Metropole. Although low birth weight averages prevailed, weight growth up to 6 months accelerated, then fell back up to 4 years. Height growth was found to be consistently slow. Between 4 and 5 years of age, however, weight and height growth increases, reducing the prevalence of wasting and stunting.

Physiological measurements of Maya American children suggest human body proportions and height are reliable indicators of the quality of an environment's influence on growth. This data was based on immigrant Maya from Guatemala from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Auxological paleontology is the study of growth and development in fossil species. This symposium, 'Patterns of Growth and Development in the Genus Homo,' presents an up-to-date review of the evolution of the pattern of human growth., It is now clear that no living species of non-human primate has all of the human growth characteristics (Bogin, 1999). This means that the human pattern could only have evolved within the genus Homo. Historically, some important research developments in the study of the evolution of human growth are: 1) D'Arcy Thompson's early 20th century work on mathematical models of growth and evolution; 2) Schultz's 1920s-1960s work on the evolution of primate ontogeny; 3)Brody's 1930s discovery of the primate juvenile stage of life; 4) Mann's late 1960 use of dental development to investigate the growth of Australopithecus; and Bogin's 1988 proposal that the life history stages of childhood and adolescence evolved only in the genus Homo. Today, the field of auxological paleontology requires technical inputs from many disciplines. Each of the presentations in this symposium highlights one or more of these areas. Some symposium participants present a few of the more recent fossil discoveries (Dederiyeh, Atapuerca, Amud 7), while other participants reanalyze some well known fossils discovered in the past 150 years (Homo erectus, Neandertals, early H. sapiens). There are also talks that focus on growth differences between living humans and non-human primates. Others focus on the biology of different maturation systems (post-cranium vs. cranium) within one species. All the participants present the latest methods for analysis and interpretation of the data. Together, these presentations tell us what we know about the evolution of growth and development in the genus Homo, and what we would like to know. Bogin, B (1999) Patterns of Human Growth, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Milk is a problem food for medical, nutritional, and biological anthropologists. Milk consumption causes more allergies and adverse reactions than most other foods. Milk also is associated with many positive health measures, including greater stature, greater bone density, and lower blood pressure early in life as well as less risk for premenstrual syndrome and for osteoporosis later in life. Data from post-World War II Japan, several pastoralist cultures around the world, nutrition supplementation programs, and experimental studies are, generally, consistent in support of milk consumption. The nutrients contained in milk, especially calcium, vitamin D3, protein, phosphorous, and fats, ate known to be necessary for adequate bone development and growth, both in length and in bone density. The risk for health problems in later life, particularly for osteoporosis, may be reduced by greater consumption of milk during infancy and childhood. Milk supplementation programs in schools improve both school attendance and school performance. A Portuguese milk supplementation program is highlighted as an example of the benefits of milk on both physical and cognitive development. Original research with the offspring (10-14 years old) of Cape Verde immigrants to Portugal shows that the end of the milk program in 1994 is associated with a negative secular trend is stature for boys and no change in stature for girls. Estimates of milk consumption by the children (5-12 years old) of Maya immigrants to the United States show no statistically significant effect on stature. For these Maya-American children milk consumption may be part of an obesogenic diet.

Human growth in height may be used as a cumulative record of the nutritional and health history of a person or a population, and often reflects the economic, social and political environment in which those people live. This paper explores the relationship between growth in height and the economic, social and political environment in Latin American populations. Adult height is analysed over an 8250 year period. It is shown that economic, social and political change prior to the European conquest of the Americas resulted in positive and negative trends in mean stature. Following the European conquest, there was a decline in mean adult stature in Middle and South America that continued until about 1939. From 1940 to 1989 there was a trend for increasing mean stature. A negative trend in stature for children is found in a second analysis. Economic decline and political unrest in Guatemala since 1978 is associated with a significant decline in the mean stature of 10- and 11-year-old children from families from very high, moderate, and very low socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the author's response about the evolution of human culture.

Background: Guatemala suffered from civil war and high levels of inequality and childhood stunting in the second half of the 20th century, but little is known about inequalities in secular trends in adiposity., Objectives: To investigate differences in childhood body mass index (BMI) and skinfold thickness trajectories from 1979 to 1999 between three groups of children: High socioeconomic position (SEP) Ladino, Low SEP Ladino, and Low SEP Indigenous Maya., Methods: The sample comprised 19 346 children aged 7-17 years with 54 638 observations. The outcomes were height, BMI, triceps skinfold thickness (TST), and subscapular skinfold thickness (SST) Z-scores according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) references. Sex-specific multilevel models were used to estimate and compare mean trajectories from 1979 to 1999 between the three groups., Results: Mean Z-scores were always highest for High SEP Ladino children and lowest for Low SEP Maya children. Despite their very short stature, the Low SEP groups had SST trajectories that were above the 50th centile. The BMI trajectories were relatively flat and within one major centile band of the CDC median, with differences between the three groups that were small (0.2-0.3 Z-scores) and did not attenuate over time. Conversely, the TST Z-score trajectories demonstrated larger positive secular trends (e.g., from -1.25 in 1979 to -0.06 in 1999 for Low SEP Maya boys), with differences between the three groups that were large (0.5-1.2 Z-scores) and did attenuate over time (in boys). Secular trends and between-group difference in the SST Z-score trajectories were less pronounced, but again we found stronger evidence in boys that the estimated inequalities attenuated over time., Conclusions: Secular trends and inequalities in skinfolds differ from those for BMI in Guatemalan children. Differences between groups in skinfolds attenuated over time, at least in boys, but whether this is good news is questionable given the very short stature yet relatively large subscapular skinfolds of the Low SEP groups., (© 2023 The Authors. American Journal of Human Biology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objectives: We investigate associations between children exposure to stressful events, considering: (1) the period in which the event took place, (2) the type of event, and (3) the cumulative effect of the events on children's weight, height and body mass index (BMI)., Methods: A total of 8429 Portuguese children (3349 exposed to at least one stressful event during their lifetime; 50.2% males; mean age = 7.21 ± 1.85 years) were included in the analysis. The occurrence of stressful (i.e., adverse) events was reported in a parental questionnaire; children's weight and height were objectively measured., Results: When the stress event took place in the first 2 years of life, compared with during pregnancy or after the 2 years, children were shorter; but the association was weak and only significant for boys. After adjustment for child's birthweight, gestational age, breastfeeding duration, number of siblings, and father's education, the experience of 3+ stressful events (vs. 1 or 2) was associated with higher weight and height in boys. No interaction effect was found between stress and BMI., Discussion: We found some evidence of associations between exposure to stressful events and physical growth of boys. We highlight the complex relationship between exposure to stressful experiences and children's physical growth, particularly the different effects of specific characteristics of the stress event and the sex differences., (© 2023 The Authors. American Journal of Biological Anthropology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Hope and love are popular themes of literature and art in many human societies. The human physiology of love and hope is less well understood. This review presents evidence that the lack of love and/or hope delays growth disturbs development and maturation and even kills., Main Body: Love and hope intersect in promoting healthy human development. Love provides a sense of security and attachment, which are necessary for healthy physical, cognitive, and emotional development. Hope provides a sense of optimism and resilience in the face of adversity. Loving relationships can foster a sense of hope in individuals and in society by providing support systems during difficult times. Similarly, having a sense of hope can make it easier to form loving relationships by providing individuals with the confidence to connect with others. Hope and love are the fundamental basis of human biocultural reproduction, which is the human style of cooperation in the production, feeding, and care of offspring. Examples are given of the association between human growth in height with love and hope, including (1) the global "Long Depression" of 1873-1896, (2) "hospitalism" and the abuse/neglect of infants and children, (3) adoption, (4) international migration, (5) colonial conquest, and (6) social, economic, and political change in Japan between 1970 and 1990., Conclusion: Overall, this review suggests that love and hope are both critical factors in promoting healthy human development and that they intersect in complex ways to support emotional well-being., (© 2023. The Author(s).)