# EARLY MALNUTRITION AND STATUS IN ADOLESCENCE

> **NIH NIH R01** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 1994 · $198,342

## Abstract

From 1969-1977, the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama
(INCAP) carried out a longitudinal study of growth and development in
four rural communities of Guatemala.  The hypothesis under study, that
malnutrition retards the mental development and physical growth of
preschool-aged children, was tested by means; of direct interventions
providing free food supplements on demand.  The children who participated
in the longitudinal study are now adolescents and young adults.  An RO1
was obtained by a multidisciplinary team to return to the study villages
to collect extensive cross-sectional data on current physical and
psychosocial status.  These recent data have been linked with the wealth
of longitudinal records available for these same individuals allowing for
investigations of the long-term effects of malnutrition on human
development.  The expected outcomes of improved nutrition in early
childhood included large body size, greater work capacity, earlier
maturation, and improved intellectual functioning and school achievement.

Data collection took longer than expected and the analysis phase of the
three year study (6/1/87-5/31/90) was reduced from 15 to 8 months.
Later, a two-year competing renewal was obtained (12/1/90-11/30/92).

The productivity of the research team has been high and dozens of papers
have been published or submitted to journals.  Preliminary results
strongly support the hypothesis that improved nutrition in early
childhood leads to enhanced functional capacity in the adult as measured
by biological and behavioral outcomes.  However, there is much important
work that will not be completed by the end of the current funding period.
Two more years of analyses are proposed.  About a third of the research
described in this application was included in our earlier proposal but
will not be completed by November, 1992.  This is due to drastic
reductions in the work plan in response to administrative budget cuts of
33% by NIH.  The majority of the analyses proposed are new ideas
generated during the current funding period.

In this revised two year application, continued analyses in several areas
are proposed.  Following recommendations by the study section, the work
plan will be focused on three research areas, and all work will be
carried out by INSP and Emory only.  The issue of whether the nutritional
intervention had a differential impact in subgroups of the population
will continue to be explored.  Analyses are proposed to fully understand
the repercussions of growth failure in early childhood on later function
in adolescence and adulthood.  A major new area of emphasis include early
childhood determinants of reproductive milestones.  The research proposed
provides a unique opportunity to test the general hypothesis that
nutrition and health status in early life are related to the adult's
potential to lead a healthy and productive life.  These issues are
critically important to governments and policy makers concerned ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 2198533
- **Project number:** 2R01HD022440-07A1
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** S352L5PJLMP8
- **Principal Investigator:** REYNALDO MARTORELL
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1994
- **Award amount:** $198,342
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1987-06-01 → 1995-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2198533

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 2198533, EARLY MALNUTRITION AND STATUS IN ADOLESCENCE (2R01HD022440-07A1). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/2198533. Licensed CC0.

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