Table 2.

Studies associating chronic undernutrition with body composition in children from low and middle-income countries

Country [Reference]	Location	Categories of undernutrition	Sample size	Age	BC techniques
Brazil [22]	Slums of Sao Paulo	HAZ < –2 HAZ > –2	13 29	CS, 11–15 years	DXA
Peru [46]	Lowland (Pampas de San Juan de Miraflores, Lima), and highland (rural communities of Santillana and Vinchos Districts of Ayacucho Region)	Height analysed on continuous basis	Lowland 201 Highland 160	CS, 3–8.5 years	Waist girth
Jamaica [47]	Poor neighbourhoods of Kingston	HAZ < –2 HAZ > –2	103 64	L, stunting assessed at < 2 years; follow-up at 7, 11 and 17 years	Skinfolds, girths
Cambodia [35]	Rural municipalities in Prey Veng province, southeast of Phnom Penh	HAZ < –2 HAZ − 2 to − 1 HAZ − 1 to 0 HAZ > 0	34 119 169 90	L, measurements at 6 and 15 months	D2O
Nepal [48]	Janakpur, Terai District	HAZ < –2 HAZ > –2	309 494	L, stunting assessed at 2 years; follow-up at 8 years	BIA, skinfolds, girths, kidney dimensions
India [49]	Areas of low socioeconomic status in Mumbai city, Maharashtra	HAZ < –2 HAZ > –2	330 330	CS, 2–4 years	Skinfolds, girths
Senegal [50]	Niakhar rural district	HAZ < –2 HAZ > –2	81 286	L, stunting assessed at 6–18 months; follow-up at 11 and 15 years	Skinfolds, girths
South Africa [51]	Township setting outside Potchefstroom, North-West Province	HAZ < –2 HAZ > –2	32 146	CS, 13–18 year range	Skinfolds, girths, densitometry
South Africa [21]	Birth-to-Twenty cohort, Soweto, Johannesburg	HAZ <-2, HAZ >-2	Total 140	L, Stunting assessed at 1 and 2 years; follow-up at 8 years	DXA

Abbreviations: BC body composition, BIA bioelectrical impedance analysis, CS cross-sectional study, D₂O deuterium dilution, DXA dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, HAZ height-for-age z-score, L longitudinal study. The south Africa study measured stunting at two time points in 140 children, but did not quantify the numbers stunted at either time point