It is unclear whether adolescence obesity is associated with limited linear growth. We assessed this association in a nationwide cohort of adolescents.
Methods: We conducted a nationwide, population-based, cohort study of 2 785 227 Israeli adolescents (60% males) who were examined before military service in 1967 through 2015; Height and weight were measured along with assessment of medical status at age 17.4±0.4 years. The secular trend of height was plotted for US-CDC age- and sex-adjusted BMI percentiles groups. We accounted for health status at enrollment and computed the expected height based on parental data that was available for 512 978 examinees.
Results: Mean height has increased by 3.1 cm among males, but remained unchanged among females over five decades. Among males, gain in height was mostly attained during the first 25 years and has stabled since. Obese males were taller than their normal-weight and underweight counterparts. Underweight girls had a prominent increase in mean height during the first 2 decades exceeding by over 2 cm the mean height of their obese counterparts. There was a gradual decrease in the difference between measured and expected height in males and females regardless of BMI status, with the exception of underweight females who achieved consistently higher stature than expected (≥3 cm).
Conclusions: During five decades excessive BMI was not a limiting factor in growth potential compared to normal BMI in both sexes. Underweight females with unimpaired health are the sole group that has yet realized its growth potential even when accounting parental height.
