How can two biological variables have opposing secular trends, yet be positively related? A demonstration using timing of puberty and adult height
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13922934 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Liina Mansukoski (0000-0001-9481-4352, Centre for Global Child Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada, corresponding author), William Johnson (0000-0002-0347-4354, Loughborough University) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 549-554 |
| Publication date | 2020-07-13 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Annals of Human Biology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0301-4460 • E-ISSN: 1464-5033 |
| Publisher | Informa (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03014460.2020.1795256 |
| PMID | 32657151 |
| OpenAlex | W3042735414 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 27 |
Timing of puberty and adult height have opposing secular trends yet are positively associated in individuals. We demonstrate this using data from a single sample and discuss possible statistical and epidemiological reasons behind it. The sample comprised 365 females from Fels Longitudinal Study born 1929-1992. We used Super-Imposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR) to estimate individual age at peak height velocity (PHV) and PHV from serial height data (8149 observations between 5 and 24 years). General linear regression was used to investigate the association between height and age at PHV, and secular trends in height, age at PHV and PHV. Although adult height increased 0.42 (95% CI: 0.08, 0.77) cm per decade, and age at PHV decreased 1.14 (-3.74, 1.45) weeks per decade, adult height increased by 2.44 (1.78, 3.10) cm per year higher age at PHV. We found tentative evidence of the positive association between age at PHV and adult height strengthened 0.25 (-0.09, 0.59) cm each decade. Secular trends in related variables may differ if the between-individual and between-cohort associations are different. To understand if a secular trend in one variable has contributed to a trend in another, each needs to be modelled over time, together with the changing association between them
Biology · Secular variation · Sociology · Birth, Development, and Health · Demography · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet · Psychology
Growth, Maturation, and Body Composition
Secular trends in growth
Secular changes in growth and maturation
Worldwide trends in body-mass index, underweight, overweight, and obesity from 1975 to 2016
Recent decline in age at menarche
Characterization of the infant BMI peak
The secular trend in human physical growth
Biosocial correlates of age at menarche in a British cohort
Height and height velocity in early, average and late maturers followed to the age of 25
Modelling height in adolescence
Trends in age at menarche and adult height in selected African countries (1950–1980)
Eight thousand years of economic and political history in Latin America revealed by anthropometry
| Citations per year | 0.2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2021 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |