We already knew that the first 1,000 days of the life of a human being, or that period that goes from conception to the end of the second year of lifeare crucial for development: according to what has been discovered by a study published on Pediatric Research growth trend during this phase would also influence pubertal growth and adult stature.
Previous studies had found that the way a child grows during this time window affects not only on his short -term healthbut also on the possibility that developments chronic diseases in adulthood. So far, however, the studies have focused mainly on weight analysis, whose data were more available, and not on height.
The importance of the first 1,000 days. The new study has analyzed the height, in addition to other characteristics at the birth and stature of the parents, of 4,700 individuals of Nordic ethnicity born between 1974 and 1990, discovering that Being more or less high as adults would be determined for 67% by the growth trend during early childhood, 60% from length to birth and 37% from the average height of the parents. The stature during puberty would instead explain only 9% of the height variations between adult individuals.
Contrary to what one might think, the way we grow up during early childhood does not instead affect the age in which puberty begins: probably, explains the coordinator of the research Carin Skogastierna, the regulatory mechanisms that determine their beginning are influenced above all by other factors, such as genetic predisposition or the environment.
Watch out for children. “We continue to study to understand if poor growth in the early years of life is connected to reduced well -being in teenagers and a greater risk of diseases and death in adulthood”, adds Skogastierna, specifying that, if so, improving pediatric health would be an excellent socio -economic investment for a country.
