American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 55, 1142-1146, Copyright © 1992 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Xerophthalmia and growth in preschool Indonesian children

I Tarwotjo, J Katz, KP West Jr, JM Tielsch and A Sommer
Indonesian Nutritional Blindness Prevention Project, Bandung.

Approximately 4000 preschool children in West Java, Indonesia, were examined for xerophthalmia and weighed and measured at 3-mo intervals from March 1977 to December 1978. Children recovering from xerophthalmia over a 3-mo interval gained an average of 124 g (95% CI 42-206) more over 3 mo than normal children. Their height gain was similar to normal children's. Children who developed xerophthalmia during a 3-mo period gained 199 g (95% CI 114-313) less and grew 0.28 cm (95% CI 0.12, 0.44) less than their normal peers. Children with chronic xerophthalmia gained 120 g (95% CI 49-191) less and grew 0.21 cm (95% CI 0.05-0.37) less than normal children. These data suggest that linear and ponderal growth is adversely affected by chronic and incident xerophthalmia, but that catch-up ponderal growth is experienced by children recovering from xerophthalmia.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. Hadi, R. J Stoltzfus, M. J Dibley, L. H Moulton, K. P West Jr, C. L Kjolhede, and T. Sadjimin Vitamin A supplementation selectively improves the linear growth of Indonesian preschool children: results from a randomized controlled trial1 Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, February 1, 2000; 71(2): 507 - 513. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. P. West Jr., S. C. LeClerq, S. R. Shrestha, L. S.-F. Wu,, E. K. Pradhan, S. K. Khatry, J. Katz, R. Adhikari, and A. Sommer Effects of Vitamin A on Growth of Vitamin A-Deficient Children: Field Studies in Nepal J. Nutr., October 1, 1997; 127(10): 1957 - 1965. [Abstract] [Full Text]