[Growth in stature in infantile-juvenile obesity]

The study aimed to assess the effect of juvenile simple adiposity on growth. The height (measured using a Hapenden stadiometer) of 1443 subjects (799 boys and 644 girls) aged from 6 to 16 was measured. The Quetelet index (QI) of adiposity was used; all subjects examined exceeded the 95th centile of the standard Cronk and Roche scale. Heights are expressed as standard deviation scores (SDS) and are compared to the British Standard. Adipose boys are taller than British boys up to the age of 12, then the difference lessens and the average heights of 15-year-old adipose boys are below the 50th centile of British growth charts. Female subjects showed a higher SDS from 6 to 8 years, after which the difference lessens gradually, and after 13 years the average height is below the 50th centile of British standards. Adipose boys are taller than normal boys during childhood; in prepuberty and puberty this difference lessens and during puberty they are shorter than British boys. This growth model is probably due to advanced skeletal maturity in adipose subjects with the result that at puberty growth lessens because it is exhausted. The wide epidemiological cross-sectional study confirms that growth is favourable in juvenile adiposity but does not alter adult height.