[A study of the relationship of total urinary hydroxyproline: creatinine ratio to body height].

The body heights of 226 pupils (8-12 year old) in primary schools were measured and it was found that, the height increase was greater in spring and summer than in autumn and winter. But there was no such difference among girls of 11 & 12 yrs old. Urines were collected from them in Oct. Nov. Dec. 1983 and Mar. Apr. May. 1984 and her urinary total hydroxyproline (THP) : Creatinine (Cr) Ratios (THP/Cr) were determined and found that the Mar-May ratio was higher than the Oct-Dec ratio, which was consistent with that of height of the coefficients of correlation between THP/Cr and increase of height 2/3 from boys of 10-12 years old, and 1/2 of the coefficients of correlation from a group of 8-9 years old girls were significant. 32 correlations from girls of 10-12 yrs of age were significant or highly significant (P less than 0.01 or less than 0.05) of 12 months or 20 months with the THP/Cr. THP/Cr is therefore a sensitive index of recent height growth (1-2 yrs) during the adolescent period.