title: Growth disparity of motherless children might be attributed to a deficient intake of high-quality nutrients.
abstract: We hypothesized that single-parent children (SPC) are retarded in growth compared with both-parent children (BPC), and that motherless children (MC) are affected differently from fatherless children. Moreover, the growth disparity between SPC and BPC might be attributed to a deficient nutrient intake. Data from 2967 children between the ages of 2 and 18 years were extracted from 4 recent waves (2004, 2006, 2009, and 2011) of the China Health and Nutrition Survey to compare the growth status of SPC and BPC and to investigate the association between growth indicators and nutrition status. Anthropometric measures and 24-hour recall of 3 consecutive days of dietary intake were collected. The discrepancy of growth status and nutrition between BPC and SPC was analyzed by multivariable regression models with adjustments for socioeconomic status. Results indicated that MC were significantly lighter in weight than BPC (P=.03); the same trend was observed for height (P=.08). This might be attributed to the lower intake of animal-source protein (P=.02), such as meat (P=.04) and fish (P=.04). Further analysis showed that intake of animal-source iron and zinc was also significantly lower in MC compared with BPC (P=.01, P=.03). No difference was detected in fatherless children in comparison with BPC. Our study indicated that the loss of the mother adversely affected children's growth status and that a lower intake of animal-source protein, iron, and zinc might be a reason for the retarded growth status of MC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: huiwang@njmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Economics and Management, China Center for Food Security Studies, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: xutian@njau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences, Peking University School of Public Health, Beijing, China; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: nhshw@changning.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Shaowei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: zhibin_hu@njmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004032:Diet / Q000592:standards*; D015930:Diet Records; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008426:Maternal Deprivation; D008460:Meat; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009753:Nutritive Value; D010333:Paternal Deprivation; D015430:Weight Gain; D015032:Zinc / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D004044:Dietary Proteins; D007501:Iron; D015032:Zinc
keywords: Animal-source nutrients; Both-parent children; Growth status; Motherless children; Single-parent children