Growth faltering in children (low length for age or low weight for length) during the first 1,000 days of life influences short-term and long-term health and survival. Interventions such as nutritional supplementation during pregnancy and the postnatal period could help prevent growth faltering, but programmatic action has been insufficient. This study uses a population intervention effects analysis of 33 longitudinal cohorts to show that improving maternal anthropometry and child condition at birth accounted for population increases in length-for-age and weight-for-length z-scores. Boys had higher risk of growth faltering than girls. Early postnatal growth faltering predisposed children to subsequent and persistent growth faltering, with multiple growth deficits linked to higher mortality. The importance of prenatal causes supports focusing on pre-conception and pregnancy for preventive interventions.

Andrew Mertens, Jade Benjamin-Chung, John M. Colford Jr, Jeremy Coyle, Mark J. van der Laan, Alan E. Hubbard, Sonali Rosete, Ivana Malenica, Nima Hejazi, Oleg Sofrygin, Wilson Cai, Haodong Li, Anna Nguyen, Nolan N. Pokpongkiat, Stephanie Djajadi, Anmol Seth, Esther Jung, Esther O. Chung, Wendy Jilek, Vishak Subramoney, Ryan Hafen, Jonas Häggström, Thea Norman, Kenneth H. Brown, Parul Christian, Benjamin F. Arnold, The Ki Child Growth Consortium