mattfromnossa
01-13-2008, 09:26 PM
By Lindsey Tanner, Associated Press writer
CHICAGO -- With beauties like Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer as role models, adolescent girls have enough to be anxious about. But now comes word that anxiety itself actually keeps girls from reaching supermodel stature -- literally.
Researchers found that anxiety may stunt girls' growth. In fact, anxious girls may grow up to be as much as 2 inches shorter than non-anxious girls, said Dr. Daniel Pine, lead author of a study in this month's issue of the journal Pediatrics and a psychiatrist with the New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Anxious girls were about twice as likely as non-anxious girls to be under 5-foot-4 as adults, he said yesterday.The authors theorize that anxiety inhibits the body's production of growth hormone. Other studies have shown that growth hormone secretion is blunted in some adults with panic disorders. However, Dr. Pine and his colleagues did not measure hormone levels in the 700 children studied over the course of nine years. Also, they did not determine parents' heights, another factor that could affect adult stature.
Dr. Pine said more research is needed to confirm their hypothesis. Dr. Robert Blizzard, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Virginia, called the study provocative but said it does not confirm that anxiety produces a biological response that affects growth. "I'm not convinced what they've demonstrated is real," he said. The authors studied an equal number of boys and girls in upstate New York from 1983 through 1992. Their average age was 13.7 years old at the outset. Psychiatric tests determined which children suffered from emotional problems. Those with two types of anxiety -- separation anxiety and chronic worrying -- showed the strongest link with short stature as an adult, Dr. Pine said. The link between anxiety and stature was found in children who were not particularly short at the outset, and it was found only in girls. Dr. Pine said that may be because girls tend to be more chronically anxious and tend to respond to stress differently than boys.
Girls with separation anxiety were afraid of being separated from their parents, to the point of skipping school or refusing to sleep alone. The chronic worriers were unusually fretful, constantly concerned about "not being good at things or that other kids didn't like him or her," Dr. Pine said. http://southcoasttodaycom.112.2o7.net/b/ss/southcoasttodaycom/1/G.7-Pd-R/s63879791857448?[AQB]&ndh=1&t=13/0/2008%2020%3A17%3A8%200%20360&pageName=NewStandard%3A%206/12/96&g=http%3A//archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/06-96/06-12-96/a05wn032.htm&r=http%3A//www.shortsupport.org/cgi-bin/news_list.cgi&ch=NewStandard%3A%206/12/96&server=www.southcoasttoday.com&s=1024x768&c=32&j=1.3&v=Y&k=Y&bw=873&bh=537&ct=lan&hp=N&[AQE]
CHICAGO -- With beauties like Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer as role models, adolescent girls have enough to be anxious about. But now comes word that anxiety itself actually keeps girls from reaching supermodel stature -- literally.
Researchers found that anxiety may stunt girls' growth. In fact, anxious girls may grow up to be as much as 2 inches shorter than non-anxious girls, said Dr. Daniel Pine, lead author of a study in this month's issue of the journal Pediatrics and a psychiatrist with the New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Anxious girls were about twice as likely as non-anxious girls to be under 5-foot-4 as adults, he said yesterday.The authors theorize that anxiety inhibits the body's production of growth hormone. Other studies have shown that growth hormone secretion is blunted in some adults with panic disorders. However, Dr. Pine and his colleagues did not measure hormone levels in the 700 children studied over the course of nine years. Also, they did not determine parents' heights, another factor that could affect adult stature.
Dr. Pine said more research is needed to confirm their hypothesis. Dr. Robert Blizzard, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Virginia, called the study provocative but said it does not confirm that anxiety produces a biological response that affects growth. "I'm not convinced what they've demonstrated is real," he said. The authors studied an equal number of boys and girls in upstate New York from 1983 through 1992. Their average age was 13.7 years old at the outset. Psychiatric tests determined which children suffered from emotional problems. Those with two types of anxiety -- separation anxiety and chronic worrying -- showed the strongest link with short stature as an adult, Dr. Pine said. The link between anxiety and stature was found in children who were not particularly short at the outset, and it was found only in girls. Dr. Pine said that may be because girls tend to be more chronically anxious and tend to respond to stress differently than boys.
Girls with separation anxiety were afraid of being separated from their parents, to the point of skipping school or refusing to sleep alone. The chronic worriers were unusually fretful, constantly concerned about "not being good at things or that other kids didn't like him or her," Dr. Pine said. http://southcoasttodaycom.112.2o7.net/b/ss/southcoasttodaycom/1/G.7-Pd-R/s63879791857448?[AQB]&ndh=1&t=13/0/2008%2020%3A17%3A8%200%20360&pageName=NewStandard%3A%206/12/96&g=http%3A//archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/06-96/06-12-96/a05wn032.htm&r=http%3A//www.shortsupport.org/cgi-bin/news_list.cgi&ch=NewStandard%3A%206/12/96&server=www.southcoasttoday.com&s=1024x768&c=32&j=1.3&v=Y&k=Y&bw=873&bh=537&ct=lan&hp=N&[AQE]