title: Poor catch-up growth in late adolescent boys with eating disorders, weight loss and stunting of growth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study aims to investigate the catch-up growth of boys presenting with an eating disorder (ED) and a stunting of growth.
  
  
  METHODS
  Weight gain and growth of 46 boys with ED were followed up for 1-3 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 13 boys who had not started their pubertal growth spurt at presentation started catch-up growth immediately following nutritional rehabilitation and weight gain. After 3 years, they had returned to their premorbid growth curve. Thirty-three boys who had started their pubertal growth spurt prior to presentation never caught up in height but continued to catch down despite weight gain. After 3 years, they had lost 0.64 ± 0.55 height standard deviation scores corresponding to approximately 4.5 cm of potential height.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In prepubertal boys with EDs, catch-up growth is possible. Pubertal boys are at a disadvantage in that catch-up growth may not occur despite weight gain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Sweden. ingemar.swenne@akademiska.se
authors.forename: Ingemar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Swenne
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: boys; catch-up growth; eating disorder; linear growth