Young girls with eating disorders whose growth is stunted by undernutrition may achieve catch-up growth in height if they regain weight soon enough -- but it takes several years, a new study reported by Reuters Health shows. The findings come from a Swedish study of girls who began losing weight before they started their menstrual periods. "The current investigation shows that catch-up growth is achieved in underweight and growth-retarded girls with eating disorders once nutritional intake is sufficient to produce weight gain," writes study author Dr. Ingemar Swenne of Uppsala University Children's Hospital, in the International Journal of Eating Disorders For most people with an eating disorder, weight loss begins at an age when little further growth is expected. Younger patients who have not yet completed puberty, however, may experience insufficient weight gain and stunted growth at an age when further increases in stature would normally be expected. To investigate whether such patients are at risk of permanent short stature, Swenne measured catch-up growth in a study of 46 girls with eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa. --More 22 12 Local Time 19 12 GMT
