Longitudinal Height Growth Patterns Among Children Receiving Menaquinone-7 Supplementation

Area of Science:

• Pediatric endocrinology
• Nutritional science
• Bone biology

Background:

• Linear growth in children is influenced by nutrition, health, and skeletal development.
• Vitamin K2 (MK-7) is crucial for bone mineralization, but its role in pediatric height growth is under-researched.
• Limited evidence exists on the association between MK-7 supplementation and longitudinal height gain in children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the association between continuous MK-7 supplementation and longitudinal height growth in children aged 6-14 years.
• To explore potential interactions between MK-7 supplementation, pubertal stage, and duration of follow-up on height gain.
• To investigate the relationship between MK-7 and pediatric linear growth trajectories.

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal observational study involving 1150 children in Vietnam, with 537 receiving MK-7 (360 µg/day) and 613 controls.
• Collected 3491 repeated height measurements, stratified by pubertal stage (no-puberty and pre-puberty).
• Used multivariable linear regression models, adjusting for covariates, to analyze height gain and interactions with MK-7 supplementation and follow-up duration.

Main Results:

• Height gain significantly increased with follow-up duration across all analyses (β range: 0.49–0.58 cm/month).
• MK-7 supplementation showed positive interactions with follow-up duration, suggesting progressively greater height gain over time (overall cohort β = 0.05 cm/month).
• The strongest positive interaction was observed in pre-pubertal boys (β = 0.10 cm/month), while no significant interaction was found in pre-pubertal girls.

Conclusions:

• Continuous MK-7 supplementation may be linked to enhanced linear growth over extended periods, rather than immediate height increases.
• The association appears more pronounced with longer follow-up durations and specifically in pre-pubertal boys.
• Observational design limitations and follow-up imbalance necessitate cautious interpretation; further prospective studies are required to confirm findings on pediatric linear growth.