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(OR10-05-26) Birthweight Has Persistent Effects on Pubescent Anthropometry in Rural Bangladesh

Sunday, July 26, 2026
11:18 AM - 11:30 AM ET
Location: Maryland Ballroom C
Emerging Leaders in Nutrition Science Poster Competition
Disclosure(s):
Keith P. West, DrPH, MPH, Jr.: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Objectives: Low birthweight (LBW) affects nearly a third of newborns in South Asia. While early childhood growth consequences are understood, contemporary studies in the region, especially in rural areas, are needed to reveal achieved pubescent growth by birth size.

Methods: We analyzed anthropometric data from a cohort of 10,520 children aged 9-13 yrs whose birth weight was measured ≤72 hours during a placebo-controlled maternal vitamin A/ β-carotene supplementation trial from 2001-7 in Bangladesh (West et al. JAMA 2011). LBW was defined as < 2.5 kg. Child height and weight were converted to height-for-age (HAZ) and BMI-for-age (BAZ) z-scores (WHO reference), with stunting and thinness defined by < -2 z-scores. Primary outcomes were pubescent height, weight, BMI, and odds ratios (OR) with 95% CIs of HAZ < -2 and BAZ < -2 by LBW status. Associations were estimated using multivariable linear regression for continuous and logistic regression for binary outcomes, with cluster-adjusted robust standard errors, adjusted for gestational age at birth, sex, newborn age in hrs at assessment, child age, and household SES. Interactions were tested for LBW by sex, age, gestational age, SES, and menarcheal status.

Results: 53% of children had LBW. At median follow-up age of ~11 yrs, median height, weight, and BMI were 131.4 cm, 25 kg, and 14.53 kg/m2; 36% were stunted and 29% thin. LBW children were 2.52 cm [95% CI: 2.28, 2.76] shorter, 1.68 kg [1.52, 1.84] lighter, had a lower BMI -0.41 kg/m2 [-0.47, -0.34], and higher ORs for HAZ < -2 [2.09; 1.91, 2.29] and BAZ < -2 [1.74; 1.59, 1.89] vs normal birth weight children. All above tests for interaction were non-significant.

Conclusions: In this large rural cohort of Bangladeshi pubescents, children born with LBW were shorter, weighed less, and were thinner than peers of normal birth weight, accompanied by a ~2-fold higher risk of wasting and stunting. Deficits in attained growth by LBW remained comparable regardless of age, sex, gestational age at birth, household SES, and in girls, menarcheal status. Observed growth deficits at this age in rural Bangladeshi children appear to represent effects of fetal growth restriction throughout gestation, not recovered by ambient post-natal influences.

Funding Sources: USAID and Gates Foundation