King Grub
2018-03-12, 10:13
AIM:
To scrutinize to what extent modern ideas about nutrition effects on growth are supported by historic observations in European populations.
METHOD:
We reviewed 19th and early 20th century paediatric journals in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, the third largest European library with an almost complete collection of the German medical literature. During a three-day visit, we inspected 15 bookshelf meters of literature not available in electronic format.
RESULTS:
Late 19th and early 20th century breastfed European infants and children, independent of social strata, grew far below World Health Organisation (WHO) standards and 15-30% of adequately-fed children would be classified as stunted by the WHO standards. Historic sources indicate that growth in height is largely independent of the extent and nature of the diet. Height catch-up after starvation was greater than catch-up reported in modern nutrition intervention studies, and allowed for unimpaired adult height.
CONCLUSION:
Historical studies are indispensable to understand why stunting does not equate with undernutrition and why modern diet interventions frequently fail to prevent stunting. Appropriateness and effect size of modern nutrition interventions on growth need revision.
Acta Paediatr. 2018 Mar 11. Stunting, starvation, and refeeding - a review of forgotten 19th and early 20th century literature.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/apa.14311/abstract;jsessionid=AB936DC344DCF20A8E3BF3230BD772 9E.f04t02
To scrutinize to what extent modern ideas about nutrition effects on growth are supported by historic observations in European populations.
METHOD:
We reviewed 19th and early 20th century paediatric journals in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, the third largest European library with an almost complete collection of the German medical literature. During a three-day visit, we inspected 15 bookshelf meters of literature not available in electronic format.
RESULTS:
Late 19th and early 20th century breastfed European infants and children, independent of social strata, grew far below World Health Organisation (WHO) standards and 15-30% of adequately-fed children would be classified as stunted by the WHO standards. Historic sources indicate that growth in height is largely independent of the extent and nature of the diet. Height catch-up after starvation was greater than catch-up reported in modern nutrition intervention studies, and allowed for unimpaired adult height.
CONCLUSION:
Historical studies are indispensable to understand why stunting does not equate with undernutrition and why modern diet interventions frequently fail to prevent stunting. Appropriateness and effect size of modern nutrition interventions on growth need revision.
Acta Paediatr. 2018 Mar 11. Stunting, starvation, and refeeding - a review of forgotten 19th and early 20th century literature.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/apa.14311/abstract;jsessionid=AB936DC344DCF20A8E3BF3230BD772 9E.f04t02