title: Auxological evaluation and determinants of growth failure at the time of adoption in Eastern European adoptees.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify factors contributing to growth failure in international adoptees (IAs) from Eastern Europe.
  
  
  METHODS
  138 IAs from Eastern Europe, 6-59 months old, were evaluated within 3 weeks of US arrival. Complete history, anthropometry, and serum for growth factors were obtained. Facial features were examined for risk of prenatal alcohol exposure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Upon arrival, mean height (-1.23 +/- 1.07), weight (-1.43 +/- 1.29), and occipitofrontal circumference (OFC) (-0.63 +/- 1.10) SDS in IAs were significantly less than population means for US children. In a multiple regression model, age, low birth weight (LBW), insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3, and high risk for fetal alcohol syndrome were independent predictors of height SDS. LBW also independently predicted lower weight SDS and smaller OFC SDS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We recommend that IAs undergo screening upon US arrival to identify risk factors for poor growth, particularly evidence of LBW and fetal alcohol exposure. Catch-up growth should be monitored in all children following adoption.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Bradley S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Maria G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kroupina
authors.forename: Sandra L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Iverson
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Masons
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Narad
authors.forename: John H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Himes
authors.forename: Dana E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petryk