Childhood retardation resulting in reduction of adult body size due to lesser adolescent skeletal delay

The skeletal maturation of 7972 rural children from the six Central American nations, aged one month through 22 years, is evaluated. The results suggest that retardation in skeletal maturation during childhood is significantly greater than during adolescence, while growth in body size shows a progressive delay from infancy through adolescence. In other words, the apparent improvement in skeletal maturation during adolescence is not associated with an equivalent “catch‐up” in body size. Similarly, prolongation of the period of growth does not fully compensate for the slow rate of growth. It is postulated that the small stature in Central America is related to the marked childhood retardation and to the fact that during adolescence, the timing of skeletal maturation is less affected than growth in size.