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Neonatal sex-steroid hormones and physical size at four years

C N Jacklin1, C McBride, P McCrory

  • 1Division of Social Sciences and Communication, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 90089-4012.

The Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology
|July 1, 1994
PubMed

Insights

Neonatal sex hormones influence preschool children's growth. Early progesterone and estrogen levels in girls, and estrogen in boys, correlate with later height and weight-for-height ratios, complementing environmental factors.

Area of Science:

  • Endocrinology
  • Pediatric Growth
  • Developmental Biology

Background:

  • Neonatal sex hormones play a role in early development.
  • Understanding hormone-growth relationships is crucial for pediatric health.
  • Environmental factors like nutrition also impact child growth.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between neonatal sex-steroid hormones and preschool children's physical size.
  • To examine the relationship between specific hormones (progesterone, estrogen, testosterone) and growth metrics (height, weight-for-height ratio).

Main Methods:

  • Measured neonatal sex-steroid hormone levels.
  • Assessed children's height and weight-for-height ratio at age four.
  • Analyzed correlations between hormone levels and growth measures.

Main Results:

  • Girls' neonatal progesterone positively correlated with their weight-for-height ratio at age four.
  • Girls' estrogen composite negatively associated with weight-for-height ratio; higher testosterone linked to higher ratios.
  • Boys' estrogen composite showed a positive association with height.

Conclusions:

  • Neonatal sex hormone levels are significant predictors of preschool children's growth.
  • Hormonal influences complement environmental factors in determining later growth patterns.
  • These findings highlight the importance of early hormonal milieu in child development.

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