Calorie restriction during childhood has catastrophic effects on health, height, cognitive ability, and general mortality. Many of the detrimental effects are p

Calorie restriction during childhood has catastrophic effects on health, height, cognitive ability, and general mortality. Many of the detrimental effects are permanent, and calorie loss during childhood also explains a lot of the childhood fatalities during the Middle Ages, as a hungry person is much more likely to succumb from disease or a mid-level injury. So, it depends on what you mean by “youth”. If you include anything below the 20s or so, then the answer is a strong, emphatic no.