Although measures to enhance bone mineralization during childhood and adolescence are widely incorporated into preventive programmes against @entity3604 , there are no published data directly linking growth rates in childhood with the risk of later @entity173 . We addressed this issue in a unique Finnish cohort in whom birth and childhood growth data were linked to later hospital discharge records. This permitted follow-up of 3639 @entity1 and 3447 @entity1 who were born in Helsinki University Central Hospital between 1924 and 1933, who went to school in Helsinki and still lived in Finland in 1971. Body size at birth was recorded and an average of 10 measurements were obtained of height and weight throughout childhood. We identified 112 subjects (55 @entity1 and 57 @entity1 ) who sustained a @entity173 during 165 404 @entity1 -years of follow-up. After adjustment for age and sex in a proportional hazards model, we identified two major determinants of @entity173 risk: tall maternal height (p < 0.001) and a low rate of childhood growth (height, p = 0.006; weight, p = 0.01). The hazard ratio for @entity173 was 2.1 (95% CI 1.2-3.5) among @entity1 and @entity1 born to mothers taller than 1.61 m, when compared with those whose mothers were shorter than 1.54 m. The ratio was 1.9 (95% CI 1.1-3.2) among those whose rate of childhood @entity1017 was below the lowest quartile for the cohort, compared with those whose growth rate was above the highest quartile. The effects of maternal height and childhood growth rate were statistically independent of each other, and remained after adjusting for socioeconomic status. The patterns of childhood growth that predicted future @entity173 differed between @entity1 and @entity1 . In @entity1 , there was a constant deficit in height and weight between ages 7 and 15 years among those later sustaining fractures; in @entity1 , there was a progressively increasing deficit in weight but a delayed @entity1017 among those later sustaining fractures. This epidemiologic study provides the first direct evidence that a low rate of childhood growth is a risk factor for later @entity173 . Whether reduced growth rate is a consequence of childhood lifestyle, genetic background or intrauterine hormonal programming, the data support measures to optimize childhood growth as part of preventive strategies against @entity3604 in future generations.

Maternal height, childhood growth and risk of XXXX in later life: a longitudinal study.

@entity3604 :: ('MESH:D058866', 'Disease') :: ['osteoporotic fracture'] @entity173 :: ('MESH:D006620', 'Disease') :: ['hip fracture'] @entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['women', 'girls', 'person', 'boys', 'men'] @entity1017 :: ('MESH:D015430', 'Disease') :: ['height gain']
@entity173 :: (MESH:D006620,Disease) :: ['hip fracture']
