ArticlePloS one2012
Trade-offs in relative limb length among Peruvian children: extending the thrifty phenotype hypothesis to limb proportions.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers.
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Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed.
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- Temporal Changes in Vertebral Morphology of the Free-Ranging Rhesus Macaques From Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico.American journal of biological anthropology · 2026Article
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- Assessing Virtual Anthropometric Measurements and Quantifying Their Relationship to Osteometric Measurements Using Computed Tomography Scans From an Online Database.American journal of biological anthropology · 2025Article
- Biological Mechanisms for Allen's Rule: DNA Methylation as Mediator of the Association Between In Utero Exposure to Environmental Heat and Tibial Growth in Childhood.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Article
- The Contribution of the Distal Limbs to Height and Proportions in Different Socioeconomic Groups.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Article
- What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger? Examining Relationships Between Early-Life Stress, Later-Life Inflammation and Mortality Risk in Skeletal Remains.American journal of biological anthropology · 2025Article
- Exploring the Laws of Developmental Direction Using a Documented Skeletal Collection.American journal of biological anthropology · 2025Article
- Nutritional status, body indices, and somatotype in Aymara and Quechua children from high Andean areas of Peru.Journal of nutritional science · 2025Article
- The Long-Term Consequences of Early Life Exposure to Tsunami and Conflict on Adolescents in Sri Lanka.Asia-Pacific journal of public health · 2023Article
- Upper arm length and knee height are associated with diabetes in the middle-aged and elderly: evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.Public health nutrition · 2023Article
- Characterising school-age health and function in rural Zimbabwe using the SAHARAN toolbox.PloS one · 2023Article
- Sexual stature difference fluctuations in pre- and post-Black Death London as an indicator of living standards.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2022Article
- Bergmann's rule is a "just-so" story of human body size.Journal of physiological anthropology · 2022Review
- Maternal internal migration and child growth and nutritional health in Peru: an analysis of the demographic and health surveys from 1991 to 2017.BMC public health · 2022Article
- A growth area: A review of the value of clinical studies of child growth for palaeopathology.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2022Review
- Implications of leg length for metabolic health and fitness.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
methodsBoth the concept of 'brain-sparing' growth and associations between relative lower limb length, childhood environment and adult disease risk are well established. Furthermore, tibia length is suggested to be particularly plastic under conditions of environmental stress. The mechanisms responsible are uncertain, but three hypotheses may be relevant. The 'thrifty phenotype' assumes that some components of growth are selectively sacrificed to preserve more critical outcomes, like the brain. The 'distal blood flow' hypothesis assumes that blood nutrients decline with distance from the heart, and hence may affect limbs in relation to basic body geometry. Temperature adaptation predicts a gradient of decreased size along the limbs reflecting decreasing tissue temperature/blood flow. We examined these questions by comparing the size of body segments among Peruvian children born and raised in differentially stressful environments. In a cross-sectional sample of children aged 6 months to 14 years (n = 447) we measured head circumference, head-trunk height, total upper and lower limb lengths, and zeugopod (ulna and tibia) and autopod (hand and foot) lengths.
resultsHighland children (exposed to greater stress) had significantly shorter limbs and zeugopod and autopod elements than lowland children, while differences in head-trunk height were smaller. Zeugopod elements appeared most sensitive to environmental conditions, as they were relatively shorter among highland children than their respective autopod elements. DISCUSSION: The results suggest that functional traits (hand, foot, and head) may be partially protected at the expense of the tibia and ulna. The results do not fit the predictions of the distal blood flow and temperature adaptation models as explanations for relative limb segment growth under stress conditions. Rather, our data support the extension of the thrifty phenotype hypothesis to limb growth, and suggest that certain elements of limb growth may be sacrificed under tough conditions to buffer more functional traits.
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