Early‐life stress and current stress predict BMI and height growth trajectories in puberty

Abstract

In cross‐sectional analyses, early institutional care is associated with shorter stature but not obesity during puberty in children adopted into US families. We examined whether shorter stature and leaner body composition in youth adopted internationally from institutions would continue as puberty progressed. We also examined whether current psychosocial stress would moderate the association between early institutional deprivation and growth during adolescence. Using an accelerated longitudinal design and linear mixed‐effects models, we examined the height and body mass index (BMI) of 132 previously institutionalized (PI) and 176 nonadopted (NA) youth. We examined youth aged 7–15 at the beginning of the study three times across 2 years. Nurses assessed anthropometrics and pubertal status. Current psychosocial stress was measured using the Youth Life Stress Interview. Our results indicated that PI youth remained shorter and leaner across three assessments than NA youth. However, age‐and‐sex‐adjusted BMI increased faster in PI youth. Psychosocial stress during puberty predicted greater age‐and‐sex‐adjusted BMI, but this effect did not differ by group. The gap in BMI but not height appears to close between PI and NA youth. Higher psychosocial stress was associated with higher BMI during puberty.

The Expression of Insulin in the Central Nervous System: What Have We Learned So Far?

“…Six weeks after hypothalamic Ins2 mRNA expression had been downregulated, a significant reduction in body length (without changes in food intake and body weight) of these mice was documented in comparison to the controls of the same age [ 51 ]. This finding is particularly relevant given that growth in children can be hampered by exposure to stressful stimuli [ 73 ].…”