Journal
PEDIATRIC RESEARCH
Volume 64, Issue 1, Pages 2-7Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1203/PDR.0b013e318177590f
Keywords
-
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Human size is a tradeoff between the evolutionary advantages and disadvantages of being small or big. We now propose that adult size is determined to an important extent during transition from infancy to childhood. This transition is marked by a growth spurt. A delay in the transition has a lifelong impact on stature and is responsible for 44% of children with short stature in developed countries and many more in developing countries. Here, we present the data and theory of an evolutionary adaptive strategy of plasticity in the timing of transition from infancy into childhood to match the prevailing energy supply. We propose that humans have evolved to withstand energy crises by decreasing their body size, and that evolutionary short-term adaptations to energy crises trigger a predictive adaptive response that modify the transition into childhood, culminating in short stature.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available