Maternal height and child growth patterns from birth to adulthood

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: OY Addo, Emory University; Aryeh D Stein, Emory University; Caroline Fall, University of Southampton; Denise P. Gigante, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil; Aravinda M. Guntupalli, University of Southampton; Bernardo L. Horta, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil; Christopher W. Kuzawa, Northwestern University; Nanette Lee, University of San Carlos, Philippines; Shane A. Norris, South Africa and Human Sciences Research Council; Poornima Prabhakaran, Public Health Foundation of India; Linda M. Richter, South Africa and Human Sciences Research Council; Harshpal S. Sachdev, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research; Reynaldo Martorell, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2013-08
• Publisher: Elsevier: 12 months
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.02.002
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Pediatrics
• ISSN: 0022-3476
• Volume: 163
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 549
• End Page: 554.e1
• Grant/Funding Information: The current COHORTS analysis is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The Wellcome Trust (United Kingdom).; Funding for data collection for the five Cohorts were: Institute of Nutrition of Central America, Panama Nutrition Trial Cohort (Guatemala), US National Institutes of Health, and US National Science Foundation; Pelotas Birth Cohort (Brazil) Wellcome Trust; New Delhi Birth Cohort Study (India), Indian Council of Medical Research, US National Center for Health Statistics, Medical Research Council (United Kingdom), and British Heart Foundation; Birth to Twenty Cohort (South Africa), Wellcome Trust, Human Sciences Research Council, South African Medical Research Council, South-African Netherlands Program on Alternative Development, Anglo-American Chairman's Fund and University of the Witwatersrand; and Cebu Longitudinal Health, and Nutrition Survey (the Philippines) US National Institutes of Health.
• Keywords: Conditional Growth; Maternal height; COHORTS; Intergenerational Influences; Child
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Objective To examine associations between maternal height and child growth during four developmental periods: intrauterine, birth to age 2y, age 2y to mid-childhood, and mid-childhood to adulthood. Study Design Pooled analysis of maternal height and offspring growth using 7630 mother-child pairs from five birth cohorts (Brazil, Guatemala, India, Philippines and South Africa). We used conditional height measures that control for collinearity in height across periods. We estimated associations between maternal height and offspring growth using multivariate regression models adjusted for household income, child sex, birth order and study site. Results Maternal height was associated with birthweight and with both height and conditional height at each age examined. The strongest associations with conditional heights were for adulthood and 2y. A 1 cm increase in maternal height predicted a 0.024 (95%CI: 0.021 - 0.028) SD increase in offspring birthweight, a 0.037 (95%CI: 0.033 – 0.040) SD increase in conditional height at 2 y, a 0.025 (95%CI: 0.021 – 0.029 SD increase in conditional height in mid-childhood, and a 0.044 (95%CI: 0.040-0.048) SD increase in conditional height in adulthood. Short mothers (< 150 cm) were more likely to have a child who was stunted at 2 years (PR=3.20 (95% CI: 2.80–3.60) and as an adult (PR=4.74, (95% CI: 4.13-5.44). There was no evidence of heterogeneity by site or sex. Conclusion Maternal height influences offspring linear growth over the growing period. These influences likely include genetic and non-genetic factors, including nutrition-related intergenerational influences on growth that prevent the attainment of genetic height potential in low and middle income countries.