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Hypertension Research : Official... Feb 2022
Topics: Body Height; Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; Humans
PubMed: 34876696
DOI: 10.1038/s41440-021-00812-0 -
Annals of Human Biology Nov 2011A child's adult height is commonly predicted using their target height, based on mid-parent height. However, if no growth disorder is suspected, the child's current...
BACKGROUND
A child's adult height is commonly predicted using their target height, based on mid-parent height. However, if no growth disorder is suspected, the child's current height is a far better predictor of their adult height.
AIM
To develop a chart to predict a child's adult height from their current height, adjusting for regression to the mean.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
Data from the First Zurich Longitudinal Growth Study provided correlations between child height and adult height by age and sex, for use in a regression model predicting adult height centile from child height centile. The model was validated using data from the British 1946 and 1958 birth cohorts.
RESULTS
The chart is illustrated superimposed on the British 1990 boys height chart. The predicted height has a standard error of 4-5 cm for ages from 4 years to puberty in both sexes. The regression adjustment partially compensates for biased predictions in early and late developers in puberty. A simplified version of the chart for restricted age ranges is also shown, as used on the UK-WHO 0-4 years growth charts.
CONCLUSION
The height prediction chart should be of value for parents, and indirectly professionals, to predict adult height in their children.
Topics: Adult; Body Height; Child; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Female; Growth Charts; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; United Kingdom; Young Adult
PubMed: 21767107
DOI: 10.3109/03014460.2011.598189 -
Journal of Biosocial Science Apr 2003Final body height is achieved as the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The aim of this article is to review past studies on body height that... (Review)
Review
Final body height is achieved as the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The aim of this article is to review past studies on body height that have followed different scientific traditions. In modern Western societies, about 20% of variation in body height is due to environmental variation. In poorer environments, this proportion is probably larger, with lower heritability of body height as well as larger socioeconomic body height differences. The role of childhood environment is seen in the increase in body height during the 20th century simultaneously with the increase in the standard of living. The most important non-genetic factors affecting growth and adult body height are nutrition and diseases. Short stature is associated with poorer education and lower social position in adulthood. This is mainly due to family background, but other environmental factors in childhood also contribute to this association. Body height is a good indicator of childhood living conditions, not only in developing countries but also in modern Western societies. Future studies combining different scientific traditions in auxology are needed to create a more holistic view of body height.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Body Height; Child; Child, Preschool; Environmental Exposure; Family; Female; Health Status; Humans; Male; Middle Aged
PubMed: 12664962
DOI: 10.1017/s0021932003002633 -
Preventive Medicine Aug 2017Adult body height is largely determined by genetics, but also by dietary factors, which in turn depend on socioeconomic status and lifestyle. We examined the association...
BACKGROUND
Adult body height is largely determined by genetics, but also by dietary factors, which in turn depend on socioeconomic status and lifestyle. We examined the association between adult body height and mortality in Switzerland, a country with three main language regions with different cultural background.
METHODS
We included 16,831 men and 18,654 women, who participated in Swiss population-based health surveys conducted 1977-1993 and who were followed up until end of 2008. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were computed to examine the association of body height with overall, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality.
RESULTS
We observed a positive association between adult body height and all-cause mortality in women (HR=1.34, 95% CI 1.10-1.62, tallest vs. average women). In men, mortality risk decreased with increasing height, with shortest men tending to have higher (1.06, 0.94-1.19) and tallest men a lower (0.94, 0.77-1.14) risk compared with men of average height (p-trend 0.0001). Body height was associated with cancer mortality in women, such that tallest women had a higher risk of dying from cancer than women of average height (1.37, 1.02-1.84), but there was no such association in men (0.95, 0.69-1.30). In both sexes, height was not associated with cardiovascular mortality in a statistically significant manner.
CONCLUSION
Our study does not support an inverse association of body height with all-cause mortality. On the contrary, our data suggests a higher overall risk in taller women, mainly driven by a positive association between body height and cancer mortality.
Topics: Adult; Body Height; Cardiovascular Diseases; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Health Surveys; Humans; Middle Aged; Mortality; Neoplasms; Risk Factors; Switzerland
PubMed: 28579494
DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.05.023 -
General and Comparative Endocrinology Jul 2013Because Swiss conscription has been mandatory and standardized since 1875 and measurement procedures for height and weight have not changed, recruitment data... (Review)
Review
Because Swiss conscription has been mandatory and standardized since 1875 and measurement procedures for height and weight have not changed, recruitment data (representative for 80-100% of the living young men) provide a solid foundation for a detailed study of changes of young men in Switzerland over the past 140 years. The average Swiss body height increased markedly by 15 cm between the 1870s and the 1970s (birth years). Improvements in living conditions are likely to have been among the main environmental determinants of this increase, but there are other likely candidates, all of which worked via the endocrine system. First, widespread iodine deficiency at the end of the 19th century helps to account for an overrepresentation of very short conscripts, for the low level of average height in Switzerland in general as well as for the tremendous regional variation in average height. Second, the doubling of annual per capita milk consumption between 1875 and 1900 was probably a key factor in the height increase, operating directly on IGF-1 concentration. Third, public-health measures, such as the iodine-deficiency prophylaxis via weekly iodine tablets for schoolchildren and via iodized table salt, introduced in the 1920s, may have been largely responsible for the dramatic increase in height during the interwar period. Since the 1970s (birth years), the positive height trend slowed down, body shape in Switzerland has evolved from growth in height to growth in breadth. Precisely how today's complex of genetic, epigenetic, environmental, and endocrine factors limiting height growth and promoting body breadth and excess weight operates has yet to be completely understood.
Topics: Body Height; Body Weight; Humans; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; Switzerland
PubMed: 23597776
DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2013.03.028 -
Anthropologischer Anzeiger; Bericht... 2016Body height is associated with environmental conditions. It has been suggested that under poor conditions when inequality within a population increases, also the...
Body height is associated with environmental conditions. It has been suggested that under poor conditions when inequality within a population increases, also the variability in height tends to increase. We studied the association of body height, within-country variability in height and geographic and historic origin in 767 growth studies carried out in 80 countries, published between 1794 and 2013, with data on N = 78,184 infants age 2 years, and N = 2,130,729 juveniles age 7 years. The studies represent almost the whole spectrum of economic diversity in human societies since the end-18(th) century. 207 studies contained data for both infants and juveniles with 50,819 subjects (age 2), and 123,078 subjects (age 7). Multiple linear regressions showed significant interactions between height, sex, historic year of the study, geographic origin, and within-study standard deviation for height with multiple R-squared = 0.527, p < 0.001, at age 2, and multiple R-squared = 0.436, p < 0.001, at age 7. Yet, the two age groups differed in respect to within-study standard deviation for height. We found a significant association between body height and within-study standard deviation for height only at age 2: tall infant populations are less variable in height (r = -0.27, p < 0.01). There was no such association in children aged 7 years. Tall children from affluent and short children from less affluent countries do not differ in the variability of body height. The data suggest that the 'environmental adversity' hypothesis for variation in growth: small mean values for height go along with large standard deviations for height, does not apply for children at age 7.
Topics: Anthropology, Physical; Body Height; Body Weight; Child; Environmental Health; Female; Growth Charts; Humans; Infant; Male
PubMed: 26754947
DOI: 10.1127/anthranz/2015/0623 -
Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal... 2019Body height (BH) measurement is an important part of the clinical evaluation of children with idiopathic scoliosis (IS) as its progression is defined based on the...
BACKGROUND
Body height (BH) measurement is an important part of the clinical evaluation of children with idiopathic scoliosis (IS) as its progression is defined based on the observation of a growth spurt.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study is to assess diurnal variation of BH in children with IS.
METHODS
BH was measured in 98 children with IS (Cobb angle: 10∘-52∘, mean 21.2∘± 9.9∘) both in standing and sitting position. The measurements were performed 4 times a day - between: (1) 7:00 and 8:00; (2) 11:00 and 12:00; (3) 15:00 and 16:00 and (4) 19:00 and 20:00.
RESULTS
A significant decrease in BH during the day was observed in both standing and sitting positions (p< 0.001). The highest decrease in height was observed between the measurements performed between 7:00 and 8:00 and measurements carried out in the evening (19:00-20:00). For standing, the mean loss of height was 0.7 cm (± 0.7), i.e. 0.43% of initial standing height, for sitting the mean decrease in height was 0.7 cm (± 0.7), i.e. 0.79% of initial sitting height.
CONCLUSIONS
BH decreases in children with IS during daytime. Due to diurnal BH variation, the time of the day should be recorded when measuring patients with IS.
Topics: Adolescent; Body Height; Child; Circadian Rhythm; Female; Humans; Male; Scoliosis
PubMed: 30689550
DOI: 10.3233/BMR-170948 -
American Journal of Physical... Jul 2015Body height is an important factor in reconstructing health conditions and it serves as an indicator of socio-economic status. Researchers rely on ancient data to...
Body height is an important factor in reconstructing health conditions and it serves as an indicator of socio-economic status. Researchers rely on ancient data to analyze evolutionary aspects of human health and its interrelation with environmental influences. This study presents body height estimates from all periods of ancient Egyptian history and compares the general population with the existing mummies of the members of royal families. A sample of 259 adult Egyptian mummies originating from various collections and published sources with body lengths (long bone measures or/and overall measurements, CT data) were analyzed, and royal mummies were scored with respect to the level of consanguinity. Male royals were taller than males in the general ancient Egyptian population, while female royals were shorter than females in the general population. The body height variation of the royals is significantly reduced when compared with a pool of non-royal mummies. This provides evidence for inbreeding resulting from consanguineous marriages. However, there appears to be no correlation between the level of inbreeding and individual body height. The random sample of general population does not show signs of inbreeding. Due to the present lack of larger, technically and ethically challenging genetic studies, the selected non-invasive approach of body height is the most reliable indicator of sibling marriages of pharaohs based on direct physical evidence.
Topics: Anthropology, Physical; Anthropometry; Body Height; Consanguinity; Egypt, Ancient; Female; History, Ancient; Humans; Male; Mummies; Radiography
PubMed: 25916977
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22728 -
Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) Jul 2007Calcium intake is a potential factor influencing weight gain and may reduce body weight, but the evidence for this in children is conflicting. The aim of this study was... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
Calcium intake is a potential factor influencing weight gain and may reduce body weight, but the evidence for this in children is conflicting. The aim of this study was to use data from randomized controlled trials to determine whether calcium supplementation in healthy children affects weight or body composition.
RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES
This study is a systematic review. We identified potential studies by searching the following electronic bibliographic databases: CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, MANTIS, ISI Web of Science, Food Science and Technology Abstracts, and Human Nutrition up until April 1, 2005 and hand-searched relevant conference abstracts. Studies were included if they were placebo-controlled randomized controlled trials of calcium supplementation, with at least 3 months of supplementation, in healthy children and with outcome measures including weight. Meta-analyses were performed using fixed effects models and weighted mean differences for weight and height and standardized mean differences (SMDs) for body composition measures.
RESULTS
There were no statistically significant effects of calcium supplementation on weight [+0.14 kg; 95% confidence interval (CI), -0.28, +0.57 kg], height (+0.22 cm; 95% CI, -0.30, +0.74 cm), body fat (SMD, +0.04; 95% CI, -0.08, +0.15), or lean mass (SMD, +0.14; 95% CI, -0.03, +0.31).
DISCUSSION
There is no evidence to support the use of calcium supplementation as a public health intervention to reduce weight gain or body fat in healthy children. Although our results do not rule out an effect of dietary supplementation with dairy products on weight gain or body composition, there is little evidence to support this hypothesis.
Topics: Body Composition; Body Height; Calcium; Child; Dietary Supplements; Global Health; Humans; Obesity; Reference Values; Weight Gain
PubMed: 17636098
DOI: 10.1038/oby.2007.213 -
Nature Reviews. Endocrinology Dec 2015In the past, the growth hormone (GH)-insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) axis was often considered to be the main system that regulated childhood growth and, therefore,... (Review)
Review
In the past, the growth hormone (GH)-insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) axis was often considered to be the main system that regulated childhood growth and, therefore, determined short stature and tall stature. However, findings have now revealed that the GH-IGF-1 axis is just one of many regulatory systems that control chondrogenesis in the growth plate, which is the biological process that drives height gain. Consequently, normal growth in children depends not only on GH and IGF-1 but also on multiple hormones, paracrine factors, extracellular matrix molecules and intracellular proteins that regulate the activity of growth plate chondrocytes. Mutations in the genes that encode many of these local proteins cause short stature or tall stature. Similarly, genome-wide association studies have revealed that the normal variation in height seems to be largely due to genes outside the GH-IGF-1 axis that affect growth at the growth plate through a wide variety of mechanisms. These findings point to a new conceptual framework for understanding short and tall stature that is centred not on two particular hormones but rather on the growth plate, which is the structure responsible for height gain.
Topics: Animals; Body Height; Gene Dosage; Growth Disorders; Growth Plate; Human Growth Hormone; Humans; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
PubMed: 26437621
DOI: 10.1038/nrendo.2015.165