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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
09:36

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Published on: February 2, 2017

Maternal height and child growth patterns.

O Yaw Addo1, Aryeh D Stein, Caroline H Fall

  • 1Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. Yaw.addo@emory.edu

The Journal of Pediatrics
|March 13, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Maternal height significantly impacts child growth from infancy through adulthood. Taller mothers tend to have taller children, with short mothers more likely to have stunted offspring, highlighting intergenerational influences on growth.

Keywords:
COHORTSConsortium on Health Orientated Research in Transitional SocietiesHAZHeight-for-age z-scoresLMICsLow- and middle-income countriesMCMIMid-childhoodMultiple imputationsPRPrevalence ratioSESSocioeconomic status

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Area of Science:

  • Human Growth and Development
  • Maternal and Child Health
  • Genetics and Epigenetics

Background:

  • Maternal height is a potential indicator of genetic potential for offspring growth.
  • Understanding intergenerational influences on child growth is crucial for public health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between maternal height and offspring growth across four distinct developmental periods.
  • To quantify the impact of maternal height on child growth from intrauterine development to adulthood.

Main Methods:

  • Pooled analysis of 7630 mother-child pairs from five international birth cohorts.
  • Utilized conditional height measures to account for height collinearity across developmental stages.
  • Employed multivariate regression models adjusted for socioeconomic and demographic factors.

Main Results:

  • Maternal height showed significant positive associations with offspring birth weight and conditional height at all measured ages.
  • A 1 cm increase in maternal height correlated with increased offspring birth weight and height in childhood and adulthood.
  • Short maternal stature (<150.1 cm) was strongly associated with increased risk of child stunting at age 2 and in adulthood.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal height is a key determinant of offspring linear growth throughout the lifespan.
  • Findings suggest a combination of genetic and non-genetic factors, including nutrition, influence growth potential across generations.
  • Intergenerational nutritional factors may limit the attainment of genetic height potential in low- and middle-income countries.