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Updated: Sep 23, 2025
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Family Size and the Age at Infancy-Childhood Transition Determine a Child's Compromised Growth in Large Families
Alina German1,2, Lisa Rubin3, Galiya Raisin4
1Department of Pediatrics, Haemek Medical Center, Afula, Israel.
Insights
Children from large families, especially those with high birth order, tend to be shorter. Growth is most impacted during the infancy-childhood transition, suggesting family size affects child stature.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Growth Studies
- Human Development Research
- Family Demographics
Background:
- Children in specific Israeli populations (Haredi and Bedouin Arab) exhibit higher rates of short stature.
- Socioeconomic factors and larger family sizes are noted in these populations.
- The study investigates the role of family structure and the infancy-childhood transition (ICT) in child stature variation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the association between family size, birth order, and inter-birth interval with child growth.
- To evaluate the impact of these factors on the age of infancy-childhood transition (ICT).
- To compare growth patterns across different family structures.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 148 high birth order children from large families (≥6 children).
- Comparison with 118 low birth order children from large families (≤3 children).
- Inclusion of 150 children from small families for reference.
Main Results:
- Children with high birth order from large families were significantly shorter in childhood (0.5 SDS difference) compared to children from small families.
- Birth length and birth order accounted for 35% of variance in infancy length.
- Age at ICT and infancy length explained 72% of variance in childhood length.
Conclusions:
- Childhood and infancy length are negatively impacted in children from larger families.
- A trend of shorter stature is observed in younger children within larger families.
- The period between infancy and childhood shows the most significant reduction in length gain, highlighting its critical role in growth.
Background:
Data on growth of Israeli school children show that children from Jewish ultra-orthodox Haredi and Bedouin Arab families have a higher prevalence of stature below the 3rd percentile. While these populations are usually from lower socioeconomic strata, they also have larger families. This study aimed to evaluate if family structure and the timing of a child's infancy-childhood transition (ICT) are central to variations in stature.
Study Design:
We analyzed the association between family size, birth order and inter-birth interval with child growth and the age at ICT in 3 groups of children, 148 high birth order children from large families (LF ≥ 6), 118 low birth order children from large families (LF ≤ 3) and 150 children from small families (SF).
Results:
High birth order children from large families were shorter in childhood than children from small families with a difference of 0.5 SDS in length. We found that birth length and birth order explained 35% of the total variance in infancy length whereas ICT age and infancy length explained 72% of the total variance in childhood length.
Conclusion:
Infancy and childhood length are compromised in children from large families. As the family grows larger the younger children tend to be shorter. Reduced length gain in the period between infancy to childhood is when growth is most affected.
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