Stature at time of diagnosis of type 1 diabetes mellitus.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the stature of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus at diagnosis.


METHODS
We collected data from 451 records of children who were examined in a pediatric diabetes clinic and used data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 10 522 children as control group. Analytical techniques included linear and logistic regression modeling. A semiquantitative meta-analysis evaluated 38 earlier publications that contain information on height at the onset of diabetes.


RESULTS
Children <1 year of age were shorter than their peers by 1 standard deviation, whereas those from 3 years to near puberty were taller by approximately 0.3 standard deviation. Adjusting for parental height caused this difference to disappear for the older children but not for the infants. The meta-analysis results paralleled these observations.


CONCLUSIONS
Taller children generally seem to experience increased risk for development of diabetes mellitus type 1, except perhaps during infancy or early adolescence. This observation may have implications regarding pathogenesis of this disorder.
DiLiberti
John H
JH
University of Illinois College of Medicine, Peoria, Illinois, USA. jdiliberti@nc.rr.com
Carver
Koryn
K
Parton
Elaine
E
Totka
Joan
J
Mick
Gail
G
McCormick
Kenneth
K
D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016014:Linear Models; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors