1 South African Institute for Medical Research
2 Department of Pediatrics, Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa
To the Editor.
Currently, much is heard of retarded, normal, attainable, and maximal growth, although the clinical significance of such during youth, and the possible ramifications in adulthood, have been insufficiently studied.
Slower growth is characteristic of the huge bulk of the world's population, and is likely to remain so. In the not-so-distant future, because of population increase it will be imperative to make more economical use of land. Therefore, there will have to be far greater reliance on plant food, which, when consumption is large, is associated with slower growth.