Height at Ages 7–13 Years in Relation to Developing Type 2 Diabetes Throughout Adult Life

Background Short adults have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Although adult height results from childhood growth, the effects of height and growth trajectories during childhood are sparsely investigated. We investigated sex‐specific associations between childhood height, growth and adult type 2 diabetes, including potential influences of birthweight and childhood body mass index ( BMI ). Methods We followed 292 827 individuals, born 1930–83, from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register in national registers for type 2 diabetes (11 548 men; 7472 women). Weights and heights were measured at ages 7–13 years. Hazard ratios ( HR ) of type 2 diabetes (age ≥30 years) were estimated without and with adjustment for birthweight and BMI . Results In men, associations between height and type 2 diabetes changed from inverse for below‐average heights at age 7 years to positive for above‐average heights at 13 years. No consistent associations were observed among women. These associations were not affected by birthweight. After adjustment for BMI , below‐average childhood heights were inversely associated with type 2 diabetes among men ( HR range: 0.91–0.93 per z ‐score) but above‐average heights were not. Among women, after adjustment for BMI , below‐ and above‐average heights in childhood were inversely associated with type 2 diabetes ( HR range: 0.91–0.95). Greater height growth from 7 to 13 years was positively associated with type 2 diabetes in men and women. Conclusions After adjustment for BMI , short childhood height at all ages and greater growth during childhood are associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, suggesting that this period of life warrants mechanistic investigations.