Filipino children exhibit catch-up growth from age 2 to 12 years

Potential for catch-up growth among stunted children is thought to be limit ed after age 2 y, particularly when they remain in poor environments. We ex plored the extent to which there were improvements in height status from ag e 2 to 12 y in a cohort of >2,000 children from the Cebu (The Philippines) Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey. At age 2 y, about 63% of sample c hildren were stunted as defined by height-for-age (HAZ) <-2 based on the WH O reference. Of children stunted at age 2, 30% were no longer stunted at 8. 5 y, and 32.5% were no longer stunted at 12 y. The mean increase in HAZ amo ng those with such improvements was 1.14 units. The likelihood that childre n stunted at age 2 y would no longer be stunted at 8.5 y was estimated usin g logistic regression. Low birth weight, which was associated with more sev ere stunting in the first 2 y of life, significantly reduced likelihood of catch-up growth in later childhood. In contrast, children with taller mothe rs, who were first born, longer at birth, less severely stunted in early in fancy and those with fewer siblings were more likely to increase HAZ from < -2 to >-2 between ages 2 and 8.5 y. Similar factors predicted the improveme nt in linear growth from 8.5 to 12 y. These results suggest that there is a large potential for catch-up growth in children into the preadolescent yea rs.