Evidence of Radiation-Induced Reduction of Height and Body Weight from Repeated Measurements of Adults Exposed in Childhood to the Atomic Bombs

Reduction of growth from exposure to atomic bomb radiation has been examined using individuals under 10 years old at the time of the bombing (ATB) and a growth curve analysis based on measurements of height and weight made in the course of the 4th-7th cycles of the Adult Health Study examinations (1964-1972). As expected, the largest difference in growth to emerge is between males and females. However, a highly significant reduction of growth associated with dose (DS86) was observed among those survivors for whom four repeated measurements of height and weight were available. Longitudinal analysis of a more extended data set (n = 821), using expected values based on simple linear regression models fitted to the three available sets of measurements of height and weight on the 254 individuals with a missing measurement, also indicates a significant radiation-related growth reduction. The possible contribution of such factors as poor nutrition and disruption of normal family life in the years immediately after the war is difficult to evaluate, but the effects of socioeconomic factors on the analysis of these data are discussed.