Several approaches have been developed to capture the complexity and
nonlinearity of human growth. One widely used is the Super Imposition by
Translation and Rotation (SITAR) model, which has become popular in studies of
adolescent growth. SITAR is a shape-invariant mixed-effects model that
represents the shared growth pattern of a population using a natural cubic
spline mean curve while incorporating three subject-specific random effects --
timing, size, and growth intensity -- to account for variations among
individuals. In this work, we introduce a supervised deep learning framework
based on an autoencoder architecture that integrates a deep neural network
(neural network) with a B-spline model to estimate the SITAR model. In this
approach, the encoder estimates the random effects for each individual, while
the decoder performs a fitting based on B-splines similar to the classic SITAR
model. We refer to this method as the Deep-SITAR model. This innovative
approach enables the prediction of the random effects of new individuals
entering a population without requiring a full model re-estimation. As a
result, Deep-SITAR offers a powerful approach to predicting growth
trajectories, combining the flexibility and efficiency of deep learning with
the interpretability of traditional mixed-effects models.