Ireland A, et al. - In 1423 individuals (740 women) from the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development, a nationally representative British birth cohort, researchers examined associations between walking age and hip shape at age 60 to 64 years. Age of walking in months was obtained from a maternal interview at 2 years of age. In a relatively large nationally representative cohort, age at onset of walking in infancy was correlated with variations in hip shape in older age. Early walkers have a larger femoral head and neck and a smaller neck-shaft angle, which is associated with a reduced risk of hip fracture, but also an osteoarthritic-like phenotype. Findings revealed that hip features identified in later walkers described a shape associated with increased fracture risk.