Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents’ growth and development
Mishra, A. ; Giwercman, A. LU ; Sonestedt, E. LU
and Ezzati, M.
(2023)
In Nature
615(7954).
p.874-883
- Abstract
- Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for... (More)
- Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified. © 2023, The Author(s). (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/30bc8ce3-ee33-4102-978e-7c87eb8af839
- author
- Mishra, A.
; Giwercman, A.
LU
; Sonestedt, E.
LU
and Ezzati, M.
- author collaboration
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- adolescence, body mass, growth and development, rural area, twenty first century, urban population, adolescent, adult, Africa south of the Sahara, article, body weight, central Asia, child, city, controlled study, Eastern Europe, high income country, human, human experiment, major clinical study, male, Middle East, North Africa, Pacific islands, preschool child, residence characteristics, South Asia, Africa, epidemiology, growth, development and aging, rural population, Sub-Saharan Africa, Adolescent, Africa South of the Sahara, Africa, Northern, Body Mass Index, Child, Growth and Development, Humans, Male, Rural Population, Urban Population
- in
- Nature
- volume
- 615
- issue
- 7954
- pages
- 10 pages
- publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85151221457
- pmid:36991188
- ISSN
- 0028-0836
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41586-023-05772-8
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 30bc8ce3-ee33-4102-978e-7c87eb8af839
- date added to LUP
- 2023-10-31 10:43:38
- date last changed
- 2023-11-01 03:00:10
@article{30bc8ce3-ee33-4102-978e-7c87eb8af839,
abstract = {{Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified. © 2023, The Author(s).}},
author = {{Mishra, A. and Giwercman, A. and Sonestedt, E. and Ezzati, M.}},
issn = {{0028-0836}},
keywords = {{adolescence; body mass; growth and development; rural area; twenty first century; urban population; adolescent; adult; Africa south of the Sahara; article; body weight; central Asia; child; city; controlled study; Eastern Europe; high income country; human; human experiment; major clinical study; male; Middle East; North Africa; Pacific islands; preschool child; residence characteristics; South Asia; Africa; epidemiology; growth, development and aging; rural population; Sub-Saharan Africa; Adolescent; Africa South of the Sahara; Africa, Northern; Body Mass Index; Child; Growth and Development; Humans; Male; Rural Population; Urban Population}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{7954}},
pages = {{874--883}},
publisher = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
series = {{Nature}},
title = {{Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents’ growth and development}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05772-8}},
doi = {{10.1038/s41586-023-05772-8}},
volume = {{615}},
year = {{2023}},
}