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Growth in Childhood and Puberty

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Puberty

Abstract

Growth is a dynamic process and has a characteristic pattern with three major growth spurts: the postnatal spurt followed by rapid growth deceleration during infancy and early childhood; the mild mid-growth spurt around the age of 6–7 years that however remains invisible in most velocity charts; and the adolescent growth spurt that parallels full sexual maturation. The maximum peak in height velocity of the adolescent spurt tends to be higher in early than in late-maturing individuals. Body weight follows a very similar pattern. Short-term growth is characterised by irregular sequences of mini growth spurts at random intervals of a few days. Measurements at intervals of less than 24 h are affected by circadian variation.

Growth is the increase of size (amplitude) over time. But individuals differ in developmental tempo: their calendar age may not parallel their biological age. Good clinical practice attempts to separately assess tempo and amplitude. Three techniques are currently available to assess the physical aspect of tempo: (1) assessing skeletal maturity, (2) assessing the state of pubertal maturity and (3) plotting multiple records of height SDS. Human beings follow a cephalocaudal (head-to-tail) gradient of growth. Adolescent growth proceeds in a distal-to-proximal pattern. Sitting height is a useful parameter to estimate the trunk–leg proportion. Particularly in younger children, the increase in body length largely reflects the increase in leg length.

Secular trends in developmental tempo and in adolescent growth exist leading to very characteristic population patterns of growth when recorded at different historic moments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aschauhof 3, 24340, Altenhof, Germany

    Michael Hermanussen

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  1. Michael Hermanussen
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Correspondence to Michael Hermanussen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medical University Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Philip Kumanov

  2. American Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Ashok Agarwal

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Hermanussen, M. (2016). Growth in Childhood and Puberty. In: Kumanov, P., Agarwal, A. (eds) Puberty. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32122-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32122-6_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-32120-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32122-6

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