Children adopted from China: a prospective study of their growth and development

Background: China has become a lead country for international adoption because of the relatively young age of the children and reported positive conditions of the orphanages. This study examined the process and outcome of growth and development of children adopted from China over their first two years with their adoptive families. Method: Seventy infant girls adopted from China at 8 to 21 months of age (Mean age = 13 months) were examined on arrival in Canada and 6, 12, and 24 months later. Comparisons were made with non‐adopted Canadian girls of similar age and from a similar family background as adoptive parents on indices of growth and standardized measures of mental, psychomotor, and language development. Results: At arrival, children adopted from China were smaller physically and exhibited developmental delays compared to current peers. Children adopted from China were functioning in the average range on physical and developmental measures within the first 6 months following adoption. However, they were not performing as well as current peers until the end of their second year after adoption. Even then, there was developmental variation in relation to comparison children and continuation of relatively smaller size with respect to height, weight, and head circumference. Physical measurement was related to outcomes at various points on all developmental measures. Conclusions: Deprivation in experience in the first year of life has more long‐lasting effects on physical growth than on mental development. The variable most consistently related to development was height‐to‐age ratio. As a measure of nutritional status, the findings reinforce the critical importance of early nutrition.