New charts for height, weight, height velocity, and weight velocity are presented for clinical (as opposed to population survey) use. They are based on longitudinal-type growth curves, using the same data as in the British 1965 growth standards. In the velocity standards centiles are given for children who are early- and late-maturing as well as for those who mature at the average age (thus extending the use of the previous charts). Limits of normality for the age of occurrence of the adolescent growth spurt are given and also for the successive stages of penis, testes, and pubic hair development in boys, and for stages of breast and pubic hair development in girls.

https://adc.bmj.com/content/archdischild/51/3/170.full.pdf

Clinical longitudinal standards for height, weight, height velocity, weight velocity, and stages of puberty.

In response to Anastasi's (1958) long-standing challenge, the authors propose an empirically testable theoretical model that (a) goes beyond and qualifies the established behavioral genetics paradigm by allowing for nonadditive synergistic effects, direct measures of the environment, and mechanisms of organism-environment interaction, called proximal processes, through which genotypes are transformed into phenotypes; (b) hypothesizes that estimates of heritability (e.g., h2) increase markedly with the magnitude of proximal processes; (c) demonstrates that heritability measures the proportion of variation in individual differences attributable only to actualized genetic potential, with the degree of nonactualized potential remaining unknown; (d) proposes that, by enhancing proximal processes and environments, it is possible to increase the extent of actualized genetic potentials for developmental competence.

/pdf/nature-nuture-reconceptualized-in-developmental-perspective-rwmmkt0s5a.pdf

Nature-nuture reconceptualized in developmental perspective: A bioecological model.

Differences in the development among children of the same chronologic age have led to the concept of physiologic age as a means to define progress toward completeness of development or maturity in the individual child. Thus, physiologic age or its frequently used synonyms, biologic and developmental age, are measures for describing the status of an individual child, whereas chronologic or calendric age convey only a rough approximation of this status because of the range in development observed for any given age. Physiologic age is estimated by the maturation of one or more tissue systems, and it is best expressed in terms of each system studied. Maturation is scaled by the occurrence of one or the sequence of multiple events that are irreversible. The dentition is one of the four systems used. The other three developmental indicators refer to bone development, secondary sex characters, and stature or weight. Dental age can be determined by the emergence and by the formation of the teeth. Tooth formation is superior to tooth emergence for assessing dental maturation, because the majority of the teeth can be studied at each examination. In contrast, emergence is only a specific phase of short duration in the continuous process of eruption, rarely observed for more than one or two teeth at a time, if at all. Emergence is also influenced markedly by environmental factors such as loss of deciduous predecessors and the lack of space in the dental arch, explaining some part of the variation in root length at emergence.\" 2 Dental maturation is of particular significance for the timing of growth changes of the dentition in the living3 and for aging skeletal specimens when only jaws remain.4 Nevertheless, inferences of somatic maturation from either tooth formation or tooth emergence should be made with caution, because the relation of dental development and somatic development, as estimated from bone formation in the handwrist region and the appearance of secondary sex characteristics, is not, as yet, fully explored.5 In general, a low-to-medium degree of association exists for all maturity indicators, but during the adolescent growth phase, the measures of somatic development are more highly correlated.6 The purpose of the present study is to provide norms of the formation of ten permanent teeth, namely, the maxillary incisors and all eight mandibular teeth. The

https://www.dentalage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/moorrees_cfa__fanning_ea_hunt_ee_1963_formation_stages_10_perm_teeth.pdf

Age Variation of Formation Stages for Ten Permanent Teeth

In Great Britain some girls begin to menstruate in their 10th or 11th years, while others who are equally healthy may not experience menarche until they 'are 14, 15, or even older. Menarche is, however, only a single event in the combination of physical changes which constitute puberty. The adolescent growth spurt, the development of the breasts, and the growth of the pubic hair occur more or less concurrently, and take, on the average, about 3 years from beginning to completion, with menarche occurring usually in the latter half of this period (Tanner, 1962). At present we lack detailed information about the rate at which girls progress through the stages of puberty and about the relation of one event to another. Only longitudinal studies (i.e. studies in which the same individuals are examined repeatedly over a period of time) can provide this information, which would be helpful both to the clinician in distinguishing the normal from the abnormal, and to the neuro-endocrinologist in constructing hypotheses about the mechanisms by which puberty is controlled. Present knowledge is based on studies carried out on small numbers of children in the United States a generation ago, together with some German studies of a similar period (for literature see Tanner, 1962). The only recent European study in which the events of puberty have been followed longitudinally is the Harpenden Growth Study, which began 19 years ago in England and is still in progress. Anthropometric measurements have been taken, and the development of the breasts and pubic hair have been recorded photographically at 3monthly intervals throughout puberty. Though these data may be subject to certain biases, discussed below, they provide information available from no other source. This paper describes the extent of normal individual variation observed in the events of puberty among the girls of the Harpenden Growth Study. We discuss: (a) variation in the chrono-

/pdf/variations-in-pattern-of-pubertal-changes-in-girls-30y8zabc3e.pdf

Variations in pattern of pubertal changes in girls

During the past decade, possible advancement in timing of puberty has been reported in the United States. In addition, early pubertal development and an increased incidence of sexual precocity have been noticed in children, primarily girls, migrating for foreign adoption in several Western European countries. These observations are raising the issues of current differences and secular trends in timing of puberty in relation to ethnic, geographical, and socioeconomic background. None of these factors provide an unequivocal explanation for the earlier onset of puberty seen in the United States. In the formerly deprived migrating children, refeeding and catch-up growth may prime maturation. However, precocious puberty is seen also in some nondeprived migrating children. Attention has been paid to the changing milieu after migration, and recently, the possible role of endocrine- disrupting chemicals from the environment has been considered. These observations urge further study of the onset of puberty as a possible sensitive and early marker of the interactions between environmental conditions and genetic susceptibility that can influence physiological and pathological processes.

/pdf/the-timing-of-normal-puberty-and-the-age-limits-of-sexual-4uewdfubug.pdf

The timing of normal puberty and the age limits of sexual precocity: variations around the world, secular trends, and changes after migration

argument is often, if not acrimonious, at least heated. It gives an impression of the fluidity of opinion on many fundamental ideas under discussion and of the urgency with which cardiac cyanosis in the newborn is regarded. When Dr. William Muscott says that the earliest he has operated for pulmonary stenosis is on an infant 3 days old, and Sir Russell Brock agrees that the earlier in the first month that operation is undertaken the better, and when Dr. Varco asks Dr. Senning 'so far as I know they have never yet catheterized any child intrauterine in Sweden, but they have done it through the delivery canal sometimes-would you tell us the indications of the Scandinavian group for catheterization in the immediate newborn period?', one is indeed being kept up with the times. But that was two years ago and already some of the questions then debated have since been answered. This beautifully printed and well-illustrated stiff paperbacked volume is, and will for a few years yet remain, an invaluable companion to a full-scale textbook on congenital heart disease.

D. A. Sholl

Papers

Growth at Adolescence.