International Journal of Epidemiology 2001;30:217-220
© International Epidemiological Association 2001
Reiterations |
Commentary: The catch-up dilemma— relevance of Leitch's ‘low–high’ pig to child growth in developing countries
a Postgraduate Programme in Epidemiology, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, CP 464, 96001-970 Pelotas, RS, Brazil.
PAHO/WHO Latin American Perinatology Center, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Correspondence: Prof. CG Victora, Postgraduate Programme in Epidemiology, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, CP 464, 96001-970 Pelotas, RS, Brazil. E-mail: cvictora@terra.com.br
Isabella Leitch's paper1 is exciting reading in many ways. Our main difficulty in writing this commentary was choosing a single topic from her several original ideas that have major relevance to the nutritional problems of developing countries today. We opted to discuss the possible hazards of catch-up growth.
Leitch's analogy of the growth of pigs and humans is thought-provoking. Based on research on pigs who were starved early in life and then fed appropriately, she observed that ‘skeleton and muscle will not grow as they would have done if they had had the opportunity at the right time, and the extra food will be used mainly to lay on fat’. She then uses this analogy of the ‘low–high’ pig to propose that humans who suffered malnutrition in early life would be better off by remaining thin than by putting on weight: ‘growth potential is not something that one can speed
Evidence for long-term negative effects of catch-up growth
Evidence for short-term beneficial effects of catch-up growth
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  B. L Horta, D. P Gigante, C. Osmond, F. C Barros, and C. G Victora Intergenerational effect of weight gain in childhood on offspring birthweight Int. J. Epidemiol., June 1, 2009; 38(3): 724 - 732. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. S Adair, R. Martorell, A. D Stein, P. C Hallal, H. S Sachdev, D. Prabhakaran, A. K Wills, S. A Norris, D. L Dahly, N. R Lee, et al. Size at birth, weight gain in infancy and childhood, and adult blood pressure in 5 low- and middle-income-country cohorts: when does weight gain matter? Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, May 1, 2009; 89(5): 1383 - 1392. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. A. Lawlor, D. A. Leon, and F. Rasmussen Growth Trajectory Matters: Interpreting the Associations among Birth Weight, Concurrent Body Size, and Systolic Blood Pressure in a Cohort Study of 378,707 Swedish Men Am. J. Epidemiol., June 15, 2007; 165(12): 1405 - 1412. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
N. Karaolis-Danckert, A. E Buyken, K. Bolzenius, C. Perim de Faria, M. J Lentze, and A. Kroke Rapid growth among term children whose birth weight was appropriate for gestational age has a longer lasting effect on body fat percentage than on body mass index Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, December 1, 2006; 84(6): 1449 - 1455. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. Cettour-Rose, S. Samec, A. P. Russell, S. Summermatter, D. Mainieri, C. Carrillo-Theander, J.-P. Montani, J. Seydoux, F. Rohner-Jeanrenaud, and A. G. Dulloo Redistribution of Glucose From Skeletal Muscle to Adipose Tissue During Catch-Up Fat: A Link Between Catch-Up Growth and Later Metabolic Syndrome Diabetes, March 1, 2005; 54(3): 751 - 756. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. Crescenzo, S. Samec, V. Antic, F. Rohner-Jeanrenaud, J. Seydoux, J.-P. Montani, and A. G. Dulloo A Role for Suppressed Thermogenesis Favoring Catch-Up Fat in the Pathophysiology of Catch-Up Growth Diabetes, May 1, 2003; 52(5): 1090 - 1097. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|