Hereditary and environmental determinants of growth in height in a longitudinal sample of children and youth of Guatemalan and European ancestry.

The effects of hereditary and environmental factors upon the growth in stature of children living in Guatemala City has been studied. Heights at yearly examinations were fitted, by individual, to a double logistic curve in samples of Guatemalan and European children attending a private school in Guatemala City. These two samples differed genetically yet shared the same environment. Their growth was compared, by a multivariate analysis of the parameterized curves, to that of children from the Berkeley Growth Study, genetically similar to the European sample, yet living in different environments. The European children in Guatemala grew, before adolescence, more similar to Guatemalan and differed significantly from the Berkeley sample children. However, the amount of growth during the adolescent years experienced by the European children was similar to that of the Berkeley sample and differed from their Guatemalan counterparts.