Nutritional Supplementation of Girls' Influences on the Growth of Their Children: Prospective Study in Guatemala

Maria C. Calderon, University of Pennsylvania
Jere Behrman, University of Pennsylvania
Sam Preston, University of Pennsylvania
John Hoddinott, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Reynaldo Martorell, Emory University
Aryeh D. Stein, Emory University

There is little evidence regarding the impact of improved nutrition in early childhood on growth of the next generation. We studied 1,365 children who are the offspring of 632 Guatemalan mothers, 426 of whom had participated as children in a nutritional supplementation trial. In the trial, two villages were randomized to receive a nutritious supplement (atole) and two to receive a less nutritious one (fresco). We compared offspring anthropometric indicators according to maternal exposure to atole or fresco, using offspring of mothers with no exposure as a reference. Offspring of women exposed to atole had 275 g higher birth weight and as children had 1.91 kg higher weight, 0.95 higher body mass index, 0.88 cm greater arm circumference and 1.38 mm greater triceps skinfold thickness. Child height, head circumference and subscapular skinfold thickness were not associated with maternal exposure to atole. Offspring of women exposed to fresco did not differ from the reference.