Why poor diets can cause school-age children to be 20cm shorter

Poor diets among school-age children in some countries can cause them to be 20 centimetres shorter in height then those elsewhere, a study has revealed.

Researchers tracked changes in height and weight of 65 million people aged five to 19 from more than 2,000 studies between 1985 to 2019.

The study, published in medical journal The Lancet, found that the Netherlands had the tallest 19-year-old boys in 2019 at an average of 6 foot. Southeast Asian country Timor-Leste had the shortest boys, at 5 feet 3 inches.

The study also showed whether children and teenagers were at a healthy weight for their height.

“Growth and development through childhood and adolescence are affected by social, nutritional, and environmental factors at home, at school, and in the community,” the study said.

“During school ages (typically 5 to 19 years), these factors amplify or mitigate adversity in infancy and early childhood and, if healthy, can help consolidate gains from early childhood and correct some nutritional inadequacies and imbalances.

“Therefore, investing in the nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents is crucial for a healthy transition to adulthood.”

UAE figures revealed that women aged 19 had an average height of 5’3”, a number that has not changed much since 1985. Five-year-old girls measured an average of 3.9ft.

Men in the UAE aged 19 had an average height of 5.7ft and five-year-olds were nearly 4.2ft.

The body mass index was also measured. A figure above 25 is considered overweight and less than 18.5 is underweight.

Girls aged 19 in the UAE had an average BMI of 25.1 and five-year-olds were at 19.6.

Adolescent boys were overweight, with an average BMI of 27.2.

While, the average for the age of 5 was 21.3.

Children and teens growing up in north-western and central Europe are the tallest in the world and the shortest are living in South, Southeast Asia, Latin America and East Africa.

Countries with the highest BMIs for boys aged 19 were Cook Islands (29.6), Naura (29.5), Tuvalu (28.2) and Niue (28.1).

Ones with the lowest were Ethiopia (19.2), Niger (19.8), Congo (19.9) and Senegal (20.1)

Countries with 19-year-old girls that had the highest BMIs were Tonga (29.0), Cook Islands (28.9), Nauru (28.6) and Niue (28.3).

The lowest were in Timor-Leste (19.6), Romania (19.9), India (20.1) and Vietnam (20.4).

Schools in Dubai reopened with Covid-19 precautions - in pictures

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Key recommendations

Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.

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