Prognosis

Several follow-up evaluations have found that by school age, most children with a history of faltering growth have normal weight although many continue to be shorter than age-matched peers.[39][43]​​

When cognitive and academic performance have been considered, by school age, children with faltering growth recruited from primary care or community sites had average IQ scores that were approximately 4 points lower than those of children with a history of adequate growth.​[15][17][39]​[44]​ These findings suggest early faltering growth may result in a small, though potentially important, impact on cognitive performance, but not the severe deficits implied by earlier studies that focused on hospitalised children.

One follow-up of children with faltering growth in the first 2 years of life found that at 8 years of age, children with a history of faltering growth were shorter, thinner, and had lower maths scores than children with no history of faltering growth.[45] However, there were no group differences in IQ, reading, or behaviour problems. Home intervention partially buffered the negative effects of faltering growth on height, BMI, maths performance, and school behaviour at 8 years of age.[45] One of the only studies to follow children into adolescence found that the long-term educational effects of faltering growth were associated with the confounders, suggesting that faltering growth in the context of poverty carries risk, but in a resource-rich context, faltering growth is not a major cause for concern.[46]

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