TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hermanussen, Michael
A1  - Bogin, Barry
A1  - Scheffler, Christiane
T1  - Stunting, starvation and refeeding
BT  - a review of forgotten 19th and early 20th century literature
JF  - Acta paediatrica : nurturing the child
N2  - 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.
KW  - Child growth
KW  - Historic literature
KW  - Refeeding
KW  - Stunting
KW  - Undernutrition
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.14311
SN  - 0803-5253
SN  - 1651-2227
VL  - 107
IS  - 7
SP  - 1166
EP  - 1176
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -