Background: The current approaches to assess growth are limited to anthropometry, are insensitive and nonspecific, and do not enable an improved understanding of how nutrition might impact growth. Consequently, new tools to develop better standards of care and programs to address ongoing concerns about nutrition and health are needed.
Methods: The Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development (BOND) project is designed to support the discovery, development, and use of current and new biomarkers of nutritional exposure, status, function, and effect. The Biomarkers in Growth (BIG) project was initiated as a BOND program to develop a roadmap for moving the nutrition and growth agenda forward. The first step in this project was a session jointly organized by the BOND Secretariat and Sight and Life at the 20th International Congress on Nutrition in Granada, Spain.
Results: The BIG session outlined current approaches to evaluating growth and understanding of the role of nutrition in linear growth, body composition, and long-term health outcomes and the potential role of systems biology in the assessment of the nutrition-growth relationship.
Conclusion: The session presentations and deliberations highlighted the need for a concerted effort to address the critical gaps in our understanding of the biology and assessment of growth.