ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE Growth velocity curves and pubertal spurt parameters of Peruvian children and adolescents living at different altitudes. The Peruvian health and optimist growth study Carla Santos 1 | Alcibíades Bustamante 2 | Peter T. Katzmarzyk 3 | Olga Vasconcelos 1 | Rui Garganta 1 | Duarte Freitas 4,5 | Sedigheh Mirzaei-Salehabadi 6 | José Maia 1 1 CIFI2D, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal 2 Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports, National University of Education Enrique Guzmán y Valle, Lima, Peru 3 Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 4 Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Madeira, Funchal, Portugal 5 Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK 6 Department of Biostatistics St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee Correspondence Carla Sofia Pinho dos Santos, MsC. Carla Santos, CIFI2D, Faculty of Sports, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Plácido Costa, 91, 4200-450, Porto, Portugal. Email: carlaaa_santos@hotmail.com Funding information FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology Portugal, Grant/Award Number: SFRH/BD/141112/2018 Abstract Objetive: To estimate the growth parameters of Peruvian children and adolescents living at different altitudes. Methods: The sample comprised 10 795 Peruvian children and adolescents (5781 girls, aged 6-7 years) from sea level, the Amazon region, and high altitude. Height was measured with standardized techniques. Mathematical and biological growth parameters were estimated using the Preece-Baines growth model I. Results: Sea-level children and adolescents experienced peak height velocity (PHV) at an earlier age (girls, 8.56 ± 2.37 years; boys, 12.03 ± 0.58 years) were taller at the time of PHV (girls, 144.1 ± 1.9 cm; boys, 154.3 ± 1.4 cm), had higher PHV (girls, 6.23 ± 3.87 cm/year; boys, 7.52 ± 2.31 cm/year), and had a taller esti- mated final height (girls, 154.2 ± 0.3 cm; boys, 166.3 ± 1.0 cm) compared to those living at high altitude (girls, 152.7 ± 0.7 cm; boys, 162.8 ± 0.8 cm) or in the Ama- zon region (152.1 ± 0.4 cm; boys, 162.2 ± 0.6 cm). Across all geographical areas, PHV occurred approximately 2 years earlier in girls (9.68 ± 0.99 years) than in boys (12.61 ± 0.42 years), their estimated PHV was 5.88 ± 1.92 cm/year vs 6.45 ± 1.09 cm/year, their size at PHV was 142.2 ± 1.4 cm vs 152.8 ± 0.7 cm, and their final adult height was estimated to be 153.1 ± 0.3 cm vs 164.2 ± 0.7 cm. Conclusions: Peruvian children and adolescents' physical growth timing and tempo were influenced by their living altitudes. Those living at sea level experi- enced an earlier age at PHV were taller at time of PHV, had a higher PHV, and had a taller estimated final height compared to those living at higher altitudes. Girls and boys also differed significantly in their growth parameters. 1 | INTRODUCTION Human physical growth is characterized by its extraordinary plasticity and population heterogeneity (Ulijaszek, 2006) and is one of the best mirrors reflecting the living conditions and pros- perity of different groups within a population (Tanner, 1987). The influence of environmental factors on the physical growth and development of children and adolescents from dif- ferent geographical areas has been previously described (Eveleth & Tanner, 1990; Schell, Gallo, & Ravenscroft, 2009; Silventoinen, 2003). In the presence of adverse envi- ronmental conditions, such as living at high altitudes, the Received: 7 December 2018 Revised: 6 May 2019 Accepted: 7 July 2019 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23301 Am J Hum Biol. 2019;e23301. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ajhb © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 1 of 11 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23301