Richard W. B. Ellis

Height and weight in relation to onset of puberty in boys.

The great majority of studies of growth in relation to puberty have been carried out on girls, since the onset of menstruation provides a fixed point which can be accurately recorded, whilst the age of establishment of a regular menstrual cycle can also be determind in most cases within comparatively narrow limits. Although the onset of menstruation does not necessarily correspond with the onset of ovulation, and has indeed tended to obscure the fact that puberty is actually a period of trasition from childhood to adolscence rather than a single fixed point, its use for statistical purposes has thrown considerable light on the relationship of growth to early or late maturity. Thus Flory (1935) and others have found that girls who menstruated early showed radiological evidence of more advanced osseous development (e.g. appearance ofthe sesamoid on the distal end ofthe first metacarpal) than non-pubescent children of the same age, whilst Stone and Barker (1937) described an early slowing-down of growth in girls who had menstruated early, and found that, after the age ofsixteen, girls who had not menstruated were in fact taller than those in whom the menarche had occurred. In the case of boys there is no fixed point corresponding to the onset of menstuation which can be accurately determined, and it is probable that spermatogenesis is more gradually established than ovulation. Assays of excretion of 17-ketasteroids (Nathanson et al., 1939, 1941; Talbot et aL, 1943) also suggest that this is of gradual incease, with a wide normal variation, and although excretion of gonadotrophic hormone in the urine shows a general tendency to increase with increasing maturity (Catchpole et al, 1938) it cannot as yet be said to provide an accurate index ofonset of puberty. The appearance of pubic hair, though usually an early sign of pubescence, bears no very constant relationship to genital development, whilst other secondary sexual characters, e.g. skin and voice changes, are all gradual in onset. By considering the various clinical manifestatons of puberty together, however, it is possible even in boys to establish grades of matunty, and to classify groups ofboys into these with some degree of accuracy. Greulic et al. (1942) have described five such maturity-goups. Although the classical mpno-

Puberty Growth of Boys

In a previous communication (Ellis, 1946), a comparison was made between the mean heights and weights of groups of boys of the same year of age but ofdifferent stages ofmaturity. The compaisons were limited to boys resident in the same school where dietetic and environmental conditions were standardized. It was shown that, between the ages of 11 and 16, the mean heights and weights of boys given a higher maturity-grading were sifntl greater than those of less mature groups of the same age. In addition, it was found that when the mean heights and weights of the groups compared were plotted retrospectively, the earlier-matunng boys were on the average taller and heavier in each year for which records were available, that is, for several years before manifestations of pubescence appeared. The present study represents a follow-up of 154 of the 208 boys originally graded, with particular reference to height and weight increments over a twelve-month period related to the various stages of matunty recognized. Since the purpose of the study was essentially to see whether different rates of growth could be demonstrated for different stages of maturity, little emphasis has been placed on chronological age. The present groups compared are therefore not identical with those compared in the previous study; within the age-ranges studied, it has not been considered necessary to subdivide the physiological (developmental) agegroups into year-age-groups, except in one instance (School A) where this was done as a double check on the general findings.