A new international study led by Dr. Benjamin M. Smith introduces height-GaP, a simple measure that reveals how early-life conditions shape health decades later. Height-GaP compares a person’s adult height with the height predicted by their genetics, capturing the lasting imprint of early growth adversity.
Using data from multiple large cohorts, researchers found that people exposed to challenges early in life, such as maternal smoking, preterm birth, low birthweight, or socioeconomic hardship, were more likely to have a larger height-GaP deficit as adults. This gap consistently reflected cumulative early-life stress across diverse populations.
Importantly, a larger height-GaP deficit was strongly associated with a higher risk of death in adulthood, including deaths from cardiovascular disease. These links held even after accounting for genetics and adult health factors, showing that it’s not height itself, but falling short of genetic growth potential, that matters.
Height-GaP offers a practical new tool to study early-life adversity, identify long-term health risks, and guide prevention strategies, highlighting how experiences early in life can quietly shape health outcomes years later.
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Quantifying the impact of early life growth adversity on later life health. Goldman-Pham R, Alter MP, Bao R, Collins SÉ, Debban CL, Allinson JP, Ambler A, Bertoni AG, Caspi A, Lovinsky-Desir S, Ekstrom MP, Engert JC, Jacobs DR Jr, Malinsky D, Manichaikul A, Michos ED, Moffitt TE, Oelsner EC, Ramrakha S, Rich SS, Sack C, Stanojevic S, Subbarao P, Sugden K, Theodore R, Watson KE, Williams B, Yang B, Dupuis J, Shaheen SO, Barr RG, Hancox RJ, Smith BM. Commun Med (Lond). 2025 Nov 17;5(1):534.