Hermanussen M, Geiger-Benoit K, Burmeister J, Sippell W G
Children's Hospital, University of Kiel, F.R. Germany.
Ann Hum Biol. 1988 Mar-Apr;15(2):103-9. doi: 10.1080/03014468800009521.
Evidence has accumulated that predictions of annual or half-annual growth rates are of limited validity when derived from extrapolations of short term growth rates. In order to investigate whether the poor predictive qualities of short sections of individual growth curves are caused by non-linearity of human growth, we have studied 73 healthy children, aged 2.9 to 15.9 years, with standard deviation scores for body height ranging between -3.3 and +3.0. The children were measured between 18 and 106 times once or twice per week throughout periods of 180 to 306 days by knemometry, a novel and noninvasive technique of accurate lower leg length measurement. Non-linearity of growth was found in about 70% of those children who could be measured more than 35 times. 45 children provided evidence for a characteristic up-and-down pattern of lower leg growth velocity consisting of sharp growth spurts ('mini growth spurts') alternating with periods of decreased growth velocity every 30 to 55 days. This pattern seemed to appear spontaneously, though in some cases we found a marked coincidence between periods of growth arrest and intermittent infectious illness.
越来越多的证据表明，从短期增长率推断得出的年度或半年增长率预测的有效性有限。为了研究个体生长曲线短节段预测质量不佳是否是由人类生长的非线性所导致的，我们对73名年龄在2.9至15.9岁之间、身高标准差分数在-3.3至+3.0之间的健康儿童进行了研究。在180至306天的时间段内，每周对这些儿童测量1至2次，共测量18至106次，采用的是一种新的、非侵入性的精确测量小腿长度的技术——小腿测量法。在大约70%能够测量超过35次的儿童中发现了生长的非线性。45名儿童提供了小腿生长速度呈现特征性上下波动模式的证据，该模式由急剧的生长突增（“微小生长突增”）组成，每30至55天与生长速度下降期交替出现。这种模式似乎是自发出现的，不过在某些情况下，我们发现生长停滞期与间歇性传染病之间存在明显的巧合。
