Sixty-nine children age 2-5 y, convalescing from shigellosis in a randomized clinical trial were fed either a high-protein diet containing 628 kJ.kg-1.d-1 with 15% of total energy as protein, or a standard-protein diet that was isoenergetic but with 7.5% of total energy as protein for 21 d. Children fed the high-protein diet showed a significant increase in height (1.02 +/- 0.44 cm; mean +/- SD) compared with the children who were fed the standard-protein diet (0.69 +/- 0.34 cm; P < 0.001). Similarly, increases in body weight were 1.25 +/- 0.48 vs 0.86 +/- 0.48 kg for the high-protein and the standard-protein diet, respectively (P < 0.001). The mean increases of serum proteins were also significantly higher in the high-protein group (P < 0.01). These results indicate that increasing the protein content of the diet during convalescence from shigellosis in children leads to more rapid catch-up growth.