NEONATAL SEX-STEROID HORMONES AND PHYSICAL SIZE AT 4 YEARS

This study investigated the relationships of neonatal sex-steroid horm ones to preschool children's size. Two measures of size were considere d: a unidimensional measure of height and a weight-for-height ratio. R esults showed a significant positive relationship between girls' neona tal progesterone and the weight-for-height ratio at age four. A negati ve association of this ratio with an estrogen composite measure was al so found. High testosterone girls had higher weight-for-height ratios than low testosterone girls. A significant positive association betwee n the estrogen composite and height was found for boys. These findings indicate that neonatal hormone levels are important complements to en vironmental factors (e.g., nutrition) in predicting later growth.