GROWTH IMPROVEMENTS IN CHILDREN ABOVE 3 YEARS OF AGE - THE CALI STUDY

The Call Study involved the random assignment of 301 malnourished chil dren to be exposed to one (CT1, n = 113), two (CT2, n = 64), three (CT 3, n = 62) or four (CT4, n = 62) 9-mo periods of a multifocal day care -based intervention (i.e., education, health and nutrition). The ages at which the intervention was initiated for Groups CT4, CT3, CT2 and C T1 were 3.5, 4.2, 5.2 and 6.1 y, respectively. After the experimental phase, children were followed up in elementary school until they were 10.4 y old. Our secondary data analyses show that children who were ex posed at an earlier age and for a longer period of time showed the hig hest degree (P less than or equal to 0.05) of improvement in weight an d linear growth during the pre-school period. These improvements in ph ysical growth could no longer be detected 3 y after the termination of the intervention.