Nils Ekvall, Linus Bengtsson, Kristina Berg Kelly, Lotta Mellander, Shakila Zaman.
Childhood stunting in relation to adolescent living environment and resilience: A follow up study in Lahore, Pakistan.
J Ayub Med Coll Abottabad Jan ;15(1):3-9.

Background: Stunting, as a manifestation of deprivation in early childhood, is a common problem among young Pakistani children. Poverty and lack of resources may predispose a child to maladjustment in the grown-up society. Resilience has been studied in young children to ascertain how the children cope with the challenges in life. The aim of the investigation was to study differences in growth, socio-economic situation and resilience between adolescent boys who had been stunted or normal in h eight at the age of five y ears. Methods: Using both quantitative and qualitative study designs, t he study areas were a n urban slum area and a village outside Lahore, Pakistan. All boys (n=36) had been followed from birth to 5 years of age in an earlier epidemiological study conducted at the Dept of Social and Preventive Pediatrics, King Edward Medical College, Lahore and were identified for follow up at 12-15 years of age. Results: Those who were stunted at 5 years were also shorter as adolescents than those who were normal in height at 5 years of age. Resilience, i.e., the combination of the adolescent`s emotional abilities, his access to emotional and family support and view of himself was interestingly not heavily influenced by earlier malnutrition. Conclusions: Despite the hardships faced by the young adolescent boys, living in poor socio-economic situations, are capable of displaying resilience despite being stunted.

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