LAUSR

Key Points Question Is early childhood development associated with nutritional and body composition indicators? Findings In this cross-sectional study of 7108 children, better early child development was significantly and linearly associated with height-for-age and low body mass index–for-age. After adjustment for body mass index and height, better development was associated with low mid–upper arm fat proportion but not with fat area. Meaning These findings suggest that future studies should consider using height-for-age, body mass index–for-age, and body fat proportion to estimate the prevalence of child underdevelopment, and nutritional trials should examine to what extent the associations are causal.