PUBERTAL LINEAR GROWTH OF INDIAN GIRLS ADOPTED IN SWEDEN

Pubertal linear growth in 66 adopted Indian girls was studied. The inf ancy childhood puberty standard was used, since it is applicable to In dian girls, and enables determination of the onset and height gain of the pubertal growth phase in an individual. At arrival in Sweden, mean height was -2.8 SDS. Despite rapid catch-up growth, the girls were st ill below the reference mean (-0.8 SDS) at the onset of the pubertal g rowth spurt, which occurred approximately 1.5 years earlier than in Sw edish girls and also earlier than in Indian girls. The pubertal height gain, however, was equivalent to that in Swedish girls with similar t iming of puberty. The short final height found in some of these girls appears to be related to shortness prior to puberty and to very early onset of an otherwise normal pubertal growth component.