Early-life growth proved important for height in puberty, adulthood

Growth patterns during a child's first two years of life may shape pubertal growth and adult height, but have little effect on pubertal timing, according to research presented at the first Joint Congress of the European Society of Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE) and the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE).

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The findings emphasise the significance of early-life growth, which could be used to forecast future growth, development, and health.

It is well established that the early-life growth period—from conception to approximately two years of age -- is crucial in determining long-term health outcomes later in life. However, previous research has mainly focused on weight due to its widespread data availability, and the differences in pubertal growth, pubertal timing and adult height between individuals have not yet been explained by early growth.

ow, in this study, researchers from Sweden analysed data on the height measurements, birth characteristics and parental heights of 4,700 individuals with Nordic ethnicity, born in 1974 and 1990, from the GrowUp Gothenburg cohorts.