Increased height in diabetes mellitus corresponds to the predicted and theadult height

This study was conducted to analyse the effect of childhood-onset diabetes mellitus on adult height. The height at time of diagnosis of 35 children wi th insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) was compared with growth refe rence data. Predictions of the adult height were made at the time of diagno sis using the target height and the Tanner-Whitehouse II method. The adult height was compared with both the predicted values and the height of health y adults. The height at time of diagnosis of the prepubertal children was i ncreased compared with growth reference data, in contrast to pubertal child ren who had normal heights. Only the prepubertal boys were taller at time o f diagnosis. The adult height of the prepubertal patients was taller than g rowth reference data. The mean adult height in all patients did not differ significantly from the predicted heights. In conclusion, the increased heig ht at the start of IDDM in prepubertal children persists until adulthood.