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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

Jelenkovic, Aline ; Yokoyama, Yoshie ; Sund, Reijo ; Hur, Yoon Mi ; Harris, Jennifer R. ; Brandt, Ingunn ; Nilsen, Thomas Sevenius ; Ooki, Syuichi ; Ullemar, Vilhelmina and Almqvist, Catarina , et al. (2018) In Early Human Development 120. p.53-60
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... (More)

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.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Birth length, Birth weight, Height, Ponderal index, Twins
in
Early Human Development
volume
120
pages
8 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:29656171
  • scopus:85045279718
ISSN
0378-3782
DOI
10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2018.04.004
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5d5fde6e-039c-44a2-a540-f8150089094d
date added to LUP
2018-04-23 13:54:17
date last changed
2024-11-26 05:32:04
@article{5d5fde6e-039c-44a2-a540-f8150089094d,
  abstract     = {{<p>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.</p>}},
  author       = {{Jelenkovic, Aline and Yokoyama, Yoshie and Sund, Reijo and Hur, Yoon Mi and Harris, Jennifer R. and Brandt, Ingunn and Nilsen, Thomas Sevenius and Ooki, Syuichi and Ullemar, Vilhelmina and Almqvist, Catarina and Magnusson, Patrik K.E. and Saudino, Kimberly J. and Stazi, Maria A. and Fagnani, Corrado and Brescianini, Sonia and Nelson, Tracy L. and Whitfield, Keith E. and Knafo-Noam, Ariel and Mankuta, David and Abramson, Lior and Cutler, Tessa L. and Hopper, John L. and Llewellyn, Clare H. and Fisher, Abigail and Corley, Robin P. and Huibregtse, Brooke M. and Derom, Catherine A. and Vlietinck, Robert F. and Bjerregaard-Andersen, Morten and Beck-Nielsen, Henning and Sodemann, Morten and Krueger, Robert F. and McGue, Matt and Pahlen, Shandell and Alexandra Burt, S. and Klump, Kelly L. and Dubois, Lise and Boivin, Michel and Brendgen, Mara and Dionne, Ginette and Vitaro, Frank and Willemsen, Gonneke and Bartels, Meike and van Beijsterveld, Catharina E.M. and Craig, Jeffrey M. and Saffery, Richard and Rasmussen, Finn and Tynelius, Per and Heikkilä, Kauko and Pietiläinen, Kirsi H. and Bayasgalan, Gombojav and Narandalai, Danshiitsoodol and Haworth, Claire M.A. and Plomin, Robert and Ji, Fuling and Ning, Feng and Pang, Zengchang and Rebato, Esther and Tarnoki, Adam D. and Tarnoki, David L. and Kim, Jina and Lee, Jooyeon and Lee, Sooji and Sung, Joohon and Loos, Ruth J.F. and Boomsma, Dorret I. and Sørensen, Thorkild I.A. and Kaprio, Jaakko and Silventoinen, Karri}},
  issn         = {{0378-3782}},
  keywords     = {{Birth length; Birth weight; Height; Ponderal index; Twins}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  pages        = {{53--60}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Early Human Development}},
  title        = {{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}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2018.04.004}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2018.04.004}},
  volume       = {{120}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}