title: Catch-up growth does not associate with cognitive development in Indian school-age children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Stunting is significantly associated with lifetime morbidity and poorer cognitive outcomes in children. Although several studies have examined the relationship between stunting, catch-up growth and cognitive performance in young populations, this relationship has not yet been explored in school-aged children. In this study, we used data from three different nutritional intervention studies conducted over a 4-year period on school-age children in Bangalore, India to assess these relationships.
  
  
  METHODS
  A battery of cognitive tests was conducted before each intervention to determine whether stunting status at baseline was related to cognitive performance across four separate domains, and repeated after a 6-month period to assess whether changes to stunting status is related to cognitive advancement.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results of independent t-tests showed that while stunted children had significantly poorer performance on short-term memory, retrieval ability and visuospatial ability tests (P=0.023, 0.026 and 0.028, respectively), there was no significant difference in the change in cognitive scores following nutritional interventions over a 6-month period between those who remained stunted and those who were no longer stunted (P>0.10).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Evidently, stunting remains associated with cognitive ability in school-age children; however, the reversal of these effects in this age group may be quite difficult.
authors.affiliation: Harvard College, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sokolovic
authors.affiliation: St. John's Research Institute, St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Selvam
authors.affiliation: St. John's Research Institute, St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.affiliation: St. John's Research Institute, St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Thankachan
authors.affiliation: St. John's Research Institute, St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Kurpad
authors.affiliation: St. John's Research Institute, St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors