A critical window: Early malnutrition sets stage for poor growth and even death, researchers find - UC Berkeley Public Health

Early malnutrition sets stage for poor growth and even death, researchers find.

Early life malnutrition is associated with increased risk of disease, impaired cognition, and death.

Researchers examined data involving nearly 84,000 children in their first two years of life from 30 studies initiated between 1987 and 2014 .

In 2022 , nearly 150 million children worldwide — upwards of 22% — failed to get enough calories to grow normally.

The research was funded through a global development grant (OPP1165144) from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to UC Berkeley .

Additional co-authors from UC Berkeley include John Colford Jr. , Alan Hubbard , Mark van der Laan , Jeremy Coyle , Oleg Sofrygin , Wilson Cai , Anna Nguyen , Nolan Pokpongkiat and Anmol Seth .