Research team identify dietary link to stunted growth

Former Washington University medical student Lacey LaGrone — now a resident physician — measures a child’s height in Malawi. A team of researchers led by the School of Medicine’s Mark J. Manary, MD, has found that inadequate dietary intake of essential amino acids and the nutrient choline is linked to stunted growth and development, a debilitating condition that affects millions of children worldwide. (Photo: Indi Trehan)

Worldwide, an estimated 25 percent of children under age 5 suffer from stunted growth and development.

While nutritional interventions have had a significant impact on reducing deaths from acute malnutrition, their impact on stunting is modest, leaving researchers vexed and the enduring problem of stunting largely unanswered.

But now, a team of researchers led by senior author Mark J. Manary, MD, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has found that inadequate dietary intake of essential amino acids and the nutrient choline is linked to stunting. That knowledge may unlock the door to new approaches to treat the debilitating condition.

Read the full story in The Source: Dietary link to stunted growth identified