The Relationship of Adult Height and Weight to the Velocity of Growth in Infancy and Childhood

To assess the relationship between the velocity of growth (weight or length in infancy, weight or height in childhood) and attained adult measurements, 1700 subjects, previously studied longitudinally and now 21 years or older, were questioned by mail. 314 responses were received and the information was validated. Correlations between velocities of growth and attained size were positive and significant in all test groups. The strongest correlations were between velocities of weight and height in childhood and adult size. In multiple regressions, the best predictive improvement was obtained by adding velocity of growth in childhood to traditional 3-year measurements. It is concluded that velocity of growth is a significant factor which can be included in systems for use by the clinician in the prediction of adult size