Sibling similarities in number of ossification centers of the hand and wrist in a malnourished population

Sibling correlations in the number of ossification centers of chronically malnourished Guatemalan children, 1 to 7 years old, are presented. Sister-sister correlations were found to be similar to brother-brother and brother-sister correlations. Sibling correlations for the Guatemalan sample were similar to those reported for U.S.A. children in the case of brother-brother and brother-sister correlations. Sister-sister correlations were, however, lower in the Guatemalan sample. These findings are not in general agreement with predictions made to the effect that sibling correlations should be lower in malnourished children.