Neta Geva1,2, Orit Pinhas-Hamiel3,4, Brian Reichman4,5, Estela Derazne1,4, Asaf Vivante4,6, Yair Barak4, Arnon Afek4,7, Amir Tirosh4,8, Gilad Twig9,10,11,12. 1. Surgeon General Headquarters, Israel Defense Forces, Ramat Gan, Israel. 2. Department of Pediatrics B, Soroka Medical Center, Beer Sheva, Israel. 3. Pediatric Endocrine and Diabetes Unit, Edmond and Lily Safra Children's Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Beer Sheva, Israel. 4. Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel. 5. The Women and Children's Health Research Unit, Gertner Institute, Tel Hashomer, Israel. 6. Department of Pediatrics B, Edmond and Lily Safra Children's Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Beer Sheva, Israel. 7. Central Management, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel. 8. Institute of Endocrinology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel. 9. Surgeon General Headquarters, Israel Defense Forces, Ramat Gan, Israel. Gilad.Twig@gmail.com. 10. Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Gilad.Twig@gmail.com. 11. Department of Medicine and the Dr. Pinchas Bornstein Talpiot Medical Leadership Program, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel. Gilad.Twig@gmail.com. 12. Department of Military Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. Gilad.Twig@gmail.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/ OBJECTIVES: It is unclear whether adolescent obesity is associated with limited linear growth. We assessed this association in a nationwide sample of adolescents. METHODS: We conducted a population-based, study of 2,785,227 Israeli adolescents (60% males) who were examined before military service since 1967 through 2015. Height and weight were measured along with assessment of medical status at age 17.4 ± 0.4 years. The secular trend of height was plotted using United States Center for Disease Control (US CDC) age- and sex-adjusted BMI percentile groups. We accounted for health status at enrollment and computed the expected height based on parental data that was available for 512,978 examinees. RESULTS: Over five decades, the mean height increased by 3.1 cm among males, but remained unchanged among females. Among males, gain in height was attained predominantly during the first 25 years and has stabilized since. Males with obesity were taller than their normal-weight and underweight counterparts. Underweight girls had a prominent increase in mean height during the first two decades, exceeding the mean height of their counterparts with obesity by over 2 cm. There was a gradual decrease in the difference between measured and expected height in males and females regardless of BMI status, with the exception of the underweight females who achieved consistently higher stature than expected (≥3 cm). CONCLUSIONS: During five decades, excessive BMI was not a limiting factor in growth potential compared with normal BMI in both sexes. The only group that exceeded its growth potential, when accounting for expected mid-parental height, were underweight females with unimpaired health.
BACKGROUND/ OBJECTIVES: It is unclear whether adolescent obesity is associated with limited linear growth. We assessed this association in a nationwide sample of adolescents. METHODS: We conducted a population-based, study of 2,785,227 Israeli adolescents (60% males) who were examined before military service since 1967 through 2015. Height and weight were measured along with assessment of medical status at age 17.4 ± 0.4 years. The secular trend of height was plotted using United States Center for Disease Control (US CDC) age- and sex-adjusted BMI percentile groups. We accounted for health status at enrollment and computed the expected height based on parental data that was available for 512,978 examinees. RESULTS: Over five decades, the mean height increased by 3.1 cm among males, but remained unchanged among females. Among males, gain in height was attained predominantly during the first 25 years and has stabilized since. Males with obesity were taller than their normal-weight and underweight counterparts. Underweight girls had a prominent increase in mean height during the first two decades, exceeding the mean height of their counterparts with obesity by over 2 cm. There was a gradual decrease in the difference between measured and expected height in males and females regardless of BMI status, with the exception of the underweight females who achieved consistently higher stature than expected (≥3 cm). CONCLUSIONS: During five decades, excessive BMI was not a limiting factor in growth potential compared with normal BMI in both sexes. The only group that exceeded its growth potential, when accounting for expected mid-parental height, were underweight females with unimpaired health.