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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1372013

The estimation of pubertal growth spurt parameters using the Superimposition by translation and rotation model in Korean children and adolescents: A longitudinal cohort study

Provisionally accepted
Dohyun Chun Dohyun Chun 1,2Seo J. Kim Seo J. Kim 3Yong H. Kim Yong H. Kim 4Jihun Kim Jihun Kim 2,5*Junghwan Suh Junghwan Suh 3*
  • 1 Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon, Republic of Korea
  • 2 The Global Prediction Co., Ltd, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
  • 3 College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, Seoul, Republic of Korea
  • 4 Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, Republic of Korea
  • 5 Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives: Understanding the characteristics of the pubertal growth spurt in Korean children and adolescents can serve as crucial foundational data for researching puberty and growth-related disorders. This study aims to estimate the key parameters of pubertal growth, specifically the age and magnitude of the pubertal growth spurt, utilizing longitudinal data from a cohort of Korean children and adolescents.Methods: This study used mixed longitudinal height data from a cohort of Korean elementary, middle, and high school students aged 7-18 years. The Superimposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR) model, a shape-invariant growth curve model, was utilized to estimate a reference height velocity curve for the entire dataset and individual curves via random effects to evaluate pubertal growth parameters. Altogether, 3,339 height measurements (1,519 for boys and 1,820 for girls) from 270 individuals (123 boys and 147 girls) were analyzed.The average age of growth spurt onset in Korean boys was 10.17 ± 0.61 years (mean ± SE), with peak height velocity occurring at 12.46 ± 0.69 years of age (9.61 ± 1.26 cm/year). Korean girls, contrarily, experience their growth spurt at an earlier age (8.57 ± 0.68 years), with peak height velocity occurring at 10.99 ± 0.74 years of age (8.32 ± 1.09 cm/year). An earlier onset of puberty in both sexes is associated with a shorter growth spurt duration (0.63 years for boys and 0.58 years for girls) and a higher peak height velocity (1.82 cm/year for boys and 1.39 cm/year for girls). These associations were statistically significant for both sexes (all p < 0.0001).This study is the first to use the height velocity curve from the SITAR model to examine the pubertal growth spurt of Korean children and adolescents. The estimated timing and magnitude of the pubertal growth spurt, and their relationships can be useful data for clinicians and researchers.

    Keywords: height, growth curve, Growth velocity, Pubertal growth, growth spurt, SITAR

    Received: 17 Jan 2024; Accepted: 06 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chun, Kim, Kim, Kim and Suh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Jihun Kim, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
    Junghwan Suh, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, 03722, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.