The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Relationships between age of puberty onset and height at age 18 years in girls and boys

Relationships between age of puberty onset and height at age 18 years in girls and boys
Relationships between age of puberty onset and height at age 18 years in girls and boys
BACKGROUND: Changes during puberty may influence final adult height. Height is related to multiple health conditions, including lung function. We investigated the association between the age of onset of five puberty events and height at age 18 years, analyzing boys and girls separately.

METHODS: Of 1456 children recruited into the Isle of Wight birth cohort (1989-1990), 1313 were followed up at age 18 years. Height was measured, and age of pubertal onset was collected at age 18 years. Cluster analysis was performed on the five puberty events in boys and girls and linear regression was applied with the clusters predicting height at age 18 years. Individual linear regression analyses assessed the age of onset of each pubertal event as a potential predictor for height at age 18 years.

RESULTS: Of the 1313 children followed up at age 18 years, 653 were males and 660 were females. All puberty variables had high internal consistency. In girls, earlier age of menarche, breast development, and growth spurt were related to shorter height. In boys, earlier age of growth spurt and slower progression through puberty were related to taller height at age 18 years.

CONCLUSIONS: Given that boys and girls may have opposing associations between pubertal timing and adult height and that height is an important predictor of lung function, the effect of pubertal timing on respiratory health should be explored.
1708-8569
[9pp.]
Yousefi, Mitra
9d5d6aa8-bba4-40b0-861e-0b60ceaea587
Karmaus, Wilfried
281d0e53-6b5d-4d38-9732-3981b07cd853
Zhang, Hongmei
9f774048-54d6-4321-a252-3887b2c76db0
Roberts, Graham
ea00db4e-84e7-4b39-8273-9b71dbd7e2f3
Matthews, Sharon
da71ceaa-c974-4fda-aea0-13c7cdecaf04
Clayton, Bernie
11035c05-1641-4c79-bf67-392c6f493de6
Arshad, Syed Hasan
917e246d-2e60-472f-8d30-94b01ef28958
Yousefi, Mitra
9d5d6aa8-bba4-40b0-861e-0b60ceaea587
Karmaus, Wilfried
281d0e53-6b5d-4d38-9732-3981b07cd853
Zhang, Hongmei
9f774048-54d6-4321-a252-3887b2c76db0
Roberts, Graham
ea00db4e-84e7-4b39-8273-9b71dbd7e2f3
Matthews, Sharon
da71ceaa-c974-4fda-aea0-13c7cdecaf04
Clayton, Bernie
11035c05-1641-4c79-bf67-392c6f493de6
Arshad, Syed Hasan
917e246d-2e60-472f-8d30-94b01ef28958

Yousefi, Mitra, Karmaus, Wilfried, Zhang, Hongmei, Roberts, Graham, Matthews, Sharon, Clayton, Bernie and Arshad, Syed Hasan (2013) Relationships between age of puberty onset and height at age 18 years in girls and boys. World Journal of Pediatrics, [9pp.]. (doi:10.1007/s12519-013-0399-z). (PMID:23335183)

Record type: Article

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Changes during puberty may influence final adult height. Height is related to multiple health conditions, including lung function. We investigated the association between the age of onset of five puberty events and height at age 18 years, analyzing boys and girls separately.

METHODS: Of 1456 children recruited into the Isle of Wight birth cohort (1989-1990), 1313 were followed up at age 18 years. Height was measured, and age of pubertal onset was collected at age 18 years. Cluster analysis was performed on the five puberty events in boys and girls and linear regression was applied with the clusters predicting height at age 18 years. Individual linear regression analyses assessed the age of onset of each pubertal event as a potential predictor for height at age 18 years.

RESULTS: Of the 1313 children followed up at age 18 years, 653 were males and 660 were females. All puberty variables had high internal consistency. In girls, earlier age of menarche, breast development, and growth spurt were related to shorter height. In boys, earlier age of growth spurt and slower progression through puberty were related to taller height at age 18 years.

CONCLUSIONS: Given that boys and girls may have opposing associations between pubertal timing and adult height and that height is an important predictor of lung function, the effect of pubertal timing on respiratory health should be explored.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 18 January 2013
Organisations: Human Development & Health

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 351096
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/351096
ISSN: 1708-8569
PURE UUID: 8a1b71b9-b05f-4089-af2a-14672a48c74d
ORCID for Graham Roberts: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2252-1248

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 16 Apr 2013 13:02
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:22

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Mitra Yousefi
Author: Wilfried Karmaus
Author: Hongmei Zhang
Author: Graham Roberts ORCID iD
Author: Sharon Matthews
Author: Bernie Clayton

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×