title: Relationships between age of puberty onset and height at age 18 years in girls and boys.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Changes during puberty may influence final adult height. Height is related to multiple health conditions, including lung function. We investigated the association between the age of onset of five puberty events and height at age 18 years, analyzing boys and girls separately.
  
  
  METHODS
  Of 1456 children recruited into the Isle of Wight birth cohort (1989-1990), 1313 were followed up at age 18 years. Height was measured, and age of pubertal onset was collected at age 18 years. Cluster analysis was performed on the five puberty events in boys and girls and linear regression was applied with the clusters predicting height at age 18 years. Individual linear regression analyses assessed the age of onset of each pubertal event as a potential predictor for height at age 18 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1313 children followed up at age 18 years, 653 were males and 660 were females. All puberty variables had high internal consistency. In girls, earlier age of menarche, breast development, and growth spurt were related to shorter height. In boys, earlier age of growth spurt and slower progression through puberty were related to taller height at age 18 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given that boys and girls may have opposing associations between pubertal timing and adult height and that height is an important predictor of lung function, the effect of pubertal timing on respiratory health should be explored.
authors: University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
authors: Mitra
authors: M
authors: Yousefi
authors: Wilfried
authors: W
authors: Karmaus
authors: Hongmei
authors: H
authors: Zhang
authors: Graham
authors: G
authors: Roberts
authors: Sharon
authors: S
authors: Matthews
authors: Bernie
authors: B
authors: Clayton
authors: Syed Hasan
authors: SH
authors: Arshad
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001827:Body Height; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology*