Associations between birth size and later height from infancy through adulthood: An individual based pooled analysis of 28 twin cohorts participating in the CODATwins project

Aline Jelenkovic, Yoshie Yokoyama, Reijo Sund, Yoon-Mi Hur, Jennifer R Harris, Ingunn Brandt, Thomas Sevenius Nilsen, Syuichi Ooki, Vilhelmina Ullemar, Catarina Almqvist, Patrik K E Magnusson, Kimberly J Saudino, Maria A Stazi, Corrado Fagnani, Sonia Brescianini, Tracy L Nelson, Keith E Whitfield, Ariel Knafo-Noam, David Mankuta, Lior AbramsonTessa L Cutler, John L Hopper, Clare H Llewellyn, Abigail Fisher, Robin P Corley, Brooke M Huibregtse, Catherine A Derom, Robert F Vlietinck, Morten Bjerregaard-Andersen, Henning Beck-Nielsen, Morten Sodemann, Robert F Krueger, Matt McGue, Shandell Pahlen, S Alexandra Burt, Kelly L Klump, Lise Dubois, Michel Boivin, Mara Brendgen, Ginette Dionne, Frank Vitaro, Gonneke Willemsen, Meike Bartels, Catharina E M van Beijsterveld, Jeffrey M Craig, Richard Saffery, Finn Rasmussen, Per Tynelius, Kauko Heikkilä, Thorkild I. A. Sørensen, et al.

6 Citations (Scopus)
35 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is evidence that birth size is positively associated with height in later life, but it remains unclear whether this is explained by genetic factors or the intrauterine environment.

AIM: To analyze the associations of birth weight, length and ponderal index with height from infancy through adulthood within mono- and dizygotic twin pairs, which provides insights into the role of genetic and environmental individual-specific factors.

METHODS: This study is based on the data from 28 twin cohorts in 17 countries. The pooled data included 41,852 complete twin pairs (55% monozygotic and 45% same-sex dizygotic) with information on birth weight and a total of 112,409 paired height measurements at ages ranging from 1 to 69 years. Birth length was available for 19,881 complete twin pairs, with a total of 72,692 paired height measurements. The association between birth size and later height was analyzed at both the individual and within-pair level by linear regression analyses.

RESULTS: Within twin pairs, regression coefficients showed that a 1-kg increase in birth weight and a 1-cm increase in birth length were associated with 1.14-4.25 cm and 0.18-0.90 cm taller height, respectively. The magnitude of the associations was generally greater within dizygotic than within monozygotic twin pairs, and this difference between zygosities was more pronounced for birth length.

CONCLUSION: Both genetic and individual-specific environmental factors play a role in the association between birth size and later height from infancy to adulthood, with a larger role for genetics in the association with birth length than with birth weight.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEarly Human Development
Volume120
Pages (from-to)53-60
Number of pages8
ISSN0378-3782
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2018

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