The determinants of stunting: can we regard the linear growth performance as a continuum of fetal development?

The relationship between early post-natal growth and the possible links with intra-uterine development is emphasised in this review. In some Asian populations linear growth faltering starts very early after birth and the deficit is most marked in the first six months of life. Catch-up growth, later in life, is possible. Children in developing countries, however, will most often become short adults. The environment is not permissive for a catch-up growth. A conceptual model has been constructed and divided in two parts: intra-uterine factors and factors in the first year of life. Only those determinants which the author considered important for the link between
fetal life and early post-natal linear growth are analysed.