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Associations of Childhood and Adulthood Height and the Components of Height with Insulin-Like Growth Factor Levels in Adulthood: A 65-Year Follow-Up of the Boyd Orr Cohort

Department of Social Medicine (I.B., D.G., N.M., G.D.S., R.M.M.), University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2PR, United Kingdom; and Clinical Sciences at North Bristol (J.M.P.H.), Southmead Hospital, Bristol BS10 5NB, United Kingdom

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Isabelle Bray, Defence Analytical Services Agency Health, Spur 7, Beckford Block, Ensleigh, Bath BA1 5AB, United Kingdom. E-mail: issy.bray{at}bristol.ac.uk.

Context: Taller individuals with longer legs have a higher risk of cancer but a lower risk of coronary heart disease.

Objective: We investigated whether childhood height and its components are associated with the IGF system in adulthood.

Design and Participants: We analyzed data from 429 participants of the Boyd Orr cohort, for whom height measured in childhood (mean age, 7.4 yr) in 1937–1939 could be related to levels of IGF-I, IGF-II, IGF binding protein (IGFBP)-2, and IGFBP-3 in adulthood (mean age, 71.1 yr). In 385 participants, measured height in adulthood could be related to IGF levels.

Results: In fully adjusted models (controlling for age, sex, socioeconomic factors, lifestyle, and body mass index), childhood height and its components were not associated with adult circulating IGF-I, IGF-II, or IGFBP-2 levels. IGFBP-3 was 85.5 ng/ml higher (95% confidence interval, –11.6 to 182.5; P = 0.08) per SD increase in childhood trunk length and 83.6 ng/ml lower (95% confidence interval, –10.3 to 177.5; P = 0.08) per SD increase in childhood leg/trunk ratio. Height in adulthood was not associated with IGF-I, IGF-II, or IGFBP-3 and was inversely associated with IGFBP-2 (P = 0.05) after additionally controlling for childhood height.

Conclusion: There was no evidence that associations of childhood height with cancer and coronary heart disease risk are mediated by IGF-I in adulthood. The anthropometric associations with IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-3 could be chance findings but warrant additional investigation. IGF levels in childhood may be more important determinants of long-term disease risk than adult levels.

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