Background El Ni?o is responsible for natural disasters and infectious disease outbreaks worldwide. During the 1997–1998 El Ni?o , northern Peru endured extreme rainfall and flooding. Since short stature may occur as a result of undernutrition or repeated infections during childhood, both of which are highly prevalent during natural disasters, we sought to determine if the 1997–1998 El Ni?o had an adverse effect on stature and body composition a decade later. In 2008–2009, we measured height, weight, and bioimpedance in a random sample of 2,095 children born between 1991 and 2001 in Tumbes, Peru.ResultsHeight-for-age increased by 0.09 SD/year of birth between 1991 and 1997 ( P ?
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