Body mass index at different ages and its association with height at age 14 and with the whole growing process

The relevance of the association of the body mass index (BMI) at 1, 4, 6, and 12 years of age with the growing process and its capacity for predicting height at age 14 was investigated in a sample of 354 adolescents (182 boys and 172 girls). Regression analysis showed that body bulk at various ages, as expressed by the BMI is closely related with the height attained at age 14, and longitudinal principal components analysis suggested that it is also associated with the whole growing process. The way in which BMI affects height could be related with the stage of sexual development, which seems to play an intermediate role in the pathway linking body bulk and height.