What does stunting tell us?
- Stunting is commonly linked with undernutrition. Yet, already after World War I, German pediatricians questioned this link and stated that no association exists between nutrition and height. Recent analyses within different populations of Low- and middle-income countries with high rates of stunted children failed to support the assumption that stunted children have a low BMI and skinfold sickness as signs of severe caloric deficiency. So, stunting is not a synonym of malnutrition. Parental education level has a positive influence on body height in stunted populations, e.g., in India and in Indonesia. Socially disadvantaged children tend to be shorter and lighter than children from affluent families. Humans are social mammals; they regulate growth similar to other social mammals. Also in humans, body height is strongly associated with the position within the social hierarchy, reflecting the personal and group-specific social, economic, political, and emotional environment. These non-nutritional impact factors on growth are summarizedStunting is commonly linked with undernutrition. Yet, already after World War I, German pediatricians questioned this link and stated that no association exists between nutrition and height. Recent analyses within different populations of Low- and middle-income countries with high rates of stunted children failed to support the assumption that stunted children have a low BMI and skinfold sickness as signs of severe caloric deficiency. So, stunting is not a synonym of malnutrition. Parental education level has a positive influence on body height in stunted populations, e.g., in India and in Indonesia. Socially disadvantaged children tend to be shorter and lighter than children from affluent families. Humans are social mammals; they regulate growth similar to other social mammals. Also in humans, body height is strongly associated with the position within the social hierarchy, reflecting the personal and group-specific social, economic, political, and emotional environment. These non-nutritional impact factors on growth are summarized by the concept of SEPE (Social-Economic-Political-Emotional) factors. SEPE reflects on prestige, dominance-subordination, social identity, and ego motivation of individuals and social groups.…
Author details: | Christiane SchefflerORCiDGND, Michael HermanussenORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.52905/hbph2022.3.36 |
ISSN: | 2748-9957 |
Title of parent work (English): | Human biology and public health |
Publisher: | Universitätsverlag Potsdam |
Place of publishing: | Potsdam |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2023/03/09 |
Publication year: | 2023 |
Publishing institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Publishing institution: | Universitätsverlag Potsdam |
Release date: | 2023/03/21 |
Tag: | SEPE Factors; height in history; malnutrition; physical fitness |
Volume: | 2022 |
Issue: | 3 |
Number of pages: | 15 |
First page: | 1 |
Last Page: | 15 |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie |
Extern / Extern | |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie |
6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit | |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Universitätsverlag Potsdam |
Open Access / Gold Open-Access | |
License (German): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |