Stunting and Smoking

Stunting, or being too short for one’s age, is defined as a height that is more than two standard deviations below the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards median. Factors that contribute to stunted growth and development include – but are not limited to – poor maternal health and nutrition, inadequate infant and young child feeding practices, and infection. Stunting should be made a development indicator.

Here we explained that stunting can also be the result of exploitation and here we found that voluntary restrictions of the intake of food, such as in anorexia, might also result in stunted growth.

So, are there any other, less obvious factors, that can result in a stunted growth? There is an obvious one.

If you start smoking at a very young age, as happens so often in developing countries, you might experience stunting. In other words, you might not achieve your maximum length. At the same time stunted growth is of course only an issue for those still growing.

A scientific study on 451 boys and 478 girls showed that a boy who smokes ten cigarettes a day (or more) from age 12 to 17 will be about 2.5 centimeters shorter than a boy who does not smoke at all[1].

Strangely, in girls, cigarette use was not associated with any height or weight loss. Cigarette use appears to only decrease height and body mass index in boys. Young girls may be less likely to take up cigarette smoking if they would understand that cigarette use may not be associated with reduced weight in adolescent females.

Part 1 'Stunting: Malnutrition or Exploitation?' can be read here.
Part 2 'Stunting and Anorexia' can be read here.

[1] O'Loughlin et al: Does cigarette use influence adiposity or height in adolescence? in Annals of Epidemology - 2008