TY - JOUR
T1 - Developmental and Nutritional Status of Internationally Adopted Children
AU - Miller, Laurie C.
AU - Kiernan, Marybeth T.
AU - Mathers, Michele I.
AU - Klein-Gitelman, Marisa
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2015 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 1995/1
Y1 - 1995/1
N2 - Objectives: To assess the relationship between developmental status of international adoptees at the time of entry into the United States and their nutritional status and concurrent medical problems. Design: Prospective study. Setting/Patients: One hundred twenty-nine internationally adopted children attending the International Adoption Clinic at the Floating Hospital for Children, Boston, Mass, underwent detailed developmental assessments, anthropometric measurements, and medical examinations. Results: The anthropometric measurements of the international adoptees were below the means for weight, height, and head circumference based on standards of the World Health Organization. Only 65 children (50%) were developmentally normal. Gross motor delays were identified in 43 children (33%), fine motor delays in 52 (40%), language delays in 23 (18%), cognitive delays in 21 (16%), and global delays in 18 (14%). The severity of delays were related to z scores for weight, height, and head circumference. The 36 children with medical problems had lower z scores compared with healthy children and were more likely to have delayed development. Conclusions: Careful developmental and growth screening of internationally adopted children at entry into the United States identifies children in need of interventions and close follow-up. Longitudinal studies of internationally adopted children may provide evidence about the reversibility of growth and developmental delays, findings applicable to any environmentally deprived child.
AB - Objectives: To assess the relationship between developmental status of international adoptees at the time of entry into the United States and their nutritional status and concurrent medical problems. Design: Prospective study. Setting/Patients: One hundred twenty-nine internationally adopted children attending the International Adoption Clinic at the Floating Hospital for Children, Boston, Mass, underwent detailed developmental assessments, anthropometric measurements, and medical examinations. Results: The anthropometric measurements of the international adoptees were below the means for weight, height, and head circumference based on standards of the World Health Organization. Only 65 children (50%) were developmentally normal. Gross motor delays were identified in 43 children (33%), fine motor delays in 52 (40%), language delays in 23 (18%), cognitive delays in 21 (16%), and global delays in 18 (14%). The severity of delays were related to z scores for weight, height, and head circumference. The 36 children with medical problems had lower z scores compared with healthy children and were more likely to have delayed development. Conclusions: Careful developmental and growth screening of internationally adopted children at entry into the United States identifies children in need of interventions and close follow-up. Longitudinal studies of internationally adopted children may provide evidence about the reversibility of growth and developmental delays, findings applicable to any environmentally deprived child.
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U2 - 10.1001/archpedi.1995.02170130042009
DO - 10.1001/archpedi.1995.02170130042009
M3 - Article
C2 - 7827658
AN - SCOPUS:0028860039
SN - 1072-4710
VL - 149
SP - 40
EP - 44
JO - Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
JF - Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
IS - 1
ER -