Peak growth velocity of height, body mass and subcutaneous fat in 10 to 14-year-old boys and girls

Abstract

Peak growth velocity, especially of height (PHV), is the most used indicator of somatic maturity in longitudinal studies of adolescents. The objectives of this study were: a) to describe the time and magnitude of the peak height velocity (PHV), the peak weight velocity (PWV), and the peak subcutaneous fat velocity (PSFV) of a group of boys and girls followed from 10 to 14 years of age, b) to compare these variables between sexes, and c) to relate the time and magnitude of the three peaks with each other. The study sample was made up of 70 schoolchildren (35 boys and 35 girls) who were followed from age 10 to age 14. The results demonstrated that the peak growth velocity of the three variables occurred at 12 to 13 years old among the boys, and two years earlier among the girls. Only the magnitude of PSFV exhibited signifi cant difference, with the girls having higher values. The periods during which PHV, PWV, and PSFV occurred, did not present any significant correlations with each other. Nevertheless, the individual analyses indicated that, in a large proportion of the subjects, peak velocities occurred at the same time, or PSFV occurred one year later than PHV. Based on these results, we conclude that PHV, PWV, and PSFV occur about two years earlier among girls, with a significant difference between the sexes in terms of the magnitude of peak velocity only existing for PSFV. Moreover, we conclude that there is great individual variability at the period that PHV, PWV and PSFV occur during adolescence, but that the greater part of the sample exhibited PHV and PSFV very close together.