Stunting is a measure of chronic undernutrition, and it affects
approximately 160 million children worldwide. Cognitive development of
stunted children is compromised, but evidence about the association
between height gain in late childhood and adolescent cognitive capacity
is scarce. We aimed to determine the association between height gains at
different ages, including late childhood, and cognitive capacity at
15-years-of-age. We conducted a prospective cohort study in a rural
African setting in Southern Malawi. The study cohort was enrolled
between June 1995 and August 1996. It originally comprised mothers of
813 fetuses, and the number of children born live was 767. These
children were followed up until the age of 15 years. The anthropometrics
were measured at one and 24-months-of-age and 15-years-of-age, and
cognitive capacity of participants was assessed at 15-years-of-age with
Raven's Coloured Matrices score, mathematic test score, median reaction
time (RT) (milliseconds) and RT lapses. The associations between growth
and the outcome measures were assessed with linear regression. Raven's
Coloured Matrices score was predicted by height gain between 24 months
and 15-years-of-age (coefficient 0.85, P = 0.03) and (coefficient 0.69, P 
= 0.06), but not by earlier growth, when possible confounders were
included in the model. The association weakened when school education
was further added in the model (coefficient = 0.69, P = 0,060).
In conclusion, in rural Malawi, better growth in late childhood is
likely to lead to better cognitive capacity in adolescence, partly
through more school education. In light of these results, growth
promotion should not only be limited to early childhood.