Networks in Auxology: proceedings of the 31st Aschauer Soiree, held at Aschau, Germany, June 17th 2023

Thirty-four scientists met for the annual Auxological conference
held at Aschau, Germany, to particularly discuss the interaction
between social factors and human growth, and to highlight several
topics of general interest for the regulation of human growth. Humans are social mammals. We show and share personal interests
and needs, and we are able to strategically adjust size according
to social position, with love and hope being prime factors in the
regulation of growth. In contrast to Western societies, where body
size has been shown to be an important predictor of socioeconomic status, egalitarian societies without formalized hierarchy
and material wealth-dependent social status do not appear to
similarly integrate body size and social network. Social network
structures can be modeled by Monte Carlo simulation. Modeling
dominance hierarchies suggests that winner-loser effects play a pivotal role in robust self-organization that transcends the specifics of the individual. Further
improvements of the St. Nicolas House analysis
using re-sampling/bootstrap techniques yielded
encouraging results for exploring dense networks
of interacting variables. The D-score scale, the
Infancy-Childhood-Puberty (ICP) growth model
and the SuperImposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) technique were presented, as well
as customized pediatric growth references, and
approaches towards a Digital Rare Disease Growth
Chart Library. First attempts with a mobile phone
application were presented to investigate the associations between maternal pre-pregnancy overweight,
gestational weight gain, and the child’s future motor development. Clinical contributions included
growth patterns of individuals with Silver-Russell syndrome, and treatment burden in children
with growth hormone deficiency. Contributions
on sports highlighted the fallacy inherent in disregarding the biological maturation status when
interpreting physical performance outcomes. The
meeting explored the complex influence of nutrition and lifestyle on menarcheal age of Lithuanian
girls and emphasized regional trends in height of
Austrian recruits. Examples of the psychosocial
stress caused by the forced migration of modern
Kyrgyz children and Polish children after World
War II were presented, as well as the effects of
nutritional stress during and after World War I.
The session concluded with a discussion of recent
trends in gun violence affecting children and adolescents in the United States, and aspects of life
history theory using the example of ”Borderline
Personality Disorder.” The features of this disorder
are consistent with the notion that it reflects a ”fast”
life history strategy, with higher levels of allostatic
load, higher levels of aggression, and greater exposure to both childhood adversity and chronic stress.
The results were discussed in light of evolutionary
guided research. In all contributions presented here,
written informed consent was obtained from all participants in accordance with institutional Human
investigation committee guidelines in accordance
with the Declaration of Helsinki amended October
2013, after information about the procedures used.