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Community and International Nutrition

The Association between Diet and Height in the Postinfancy Period Changes with Age and Socioeconomic Status in Filipino Youths¹

Cara L. Eckhardt², Chirayath Suchindran^*, Penny Gordon-Larsen and Linda S. Adair

Food Consumption and Nutrition Division, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC and Departments of ^* Biostatistics and Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

²To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: c.eckhardt{at}cgiar.org.

Whether the determinants of linear growth can have independent effects beyond the critical infancy period has been questioned. This research uses uniquely suited data from >2000 youths from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Study in the Philippines to examine the association between diet and height in the postinfancy period. Anthropometric, diet, and other data were collected bimonthly from 0 to 2 y, and at the mean ages of 8, 11.5, 15.5, and 18.5 y. Generalized Estimating Equations were used to quantify the mean effects of diet diversity and energy intake on height across increments demarcated by the postinfancy data (2–8.5, 8.5–11.5, 11.5–15.5, and 15.5–18.5 y). We examined whether the effects differed by socioeconomic status (SES) and age. Effects with P < 0.05 were considered significant. Each additional unit of diet variety (range 0–8 U) was associated with a significant 0.33-cm increase in height in boys. Each additional 100 kcal (4186 kJ) was associated with significant increases in height of 0.05 cm in boys, and 0.02 cm in girls. Significant interactions (P < 0.15) with SES showed that each 100 kcal increase in energy intake was associated with a 0.08-cm increase in height at low SES with no difference at high SES. In both boys and girls, the effects of energy intake decreased with age, as shown by a significant age interaction (P < 0.15). The methods used incorporate the longitudinal nature of the data to offer a unique examination of the association between diet and height in the postinfancy period.

KEY WORDS: • diet diversity • energy intake • height • linear growth • developing country

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