Article
Growth of primary school children: a validation of the 1990 references and their use in growth monitoring
Mary C J Rudolfa, Tim J Coleb, Aaron J Kromc, Pinki Sahotad, Jenny Walkere
a Community
Paediatrics, Leeds Community and Mental Health Trust, Belmont House,
3-5 Belmont Grove, Leeds LS2 9NP, UK, b Institute of Child Health, London, UK, c Leeds Grammar School, Leeds, UK, d Leeds
Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK, e Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, UK
Correspondence to: Dr Rudolf
Accepted 7 June 2000
AIMS
To determine whether the
British 1990 growth charts are valid for cross sectional and
longitudinal use in primary school children.
METHODSA total of 694 children
aged 7-10 years from 10 Leeds primary schools were weighed and
measured annually over three years by an expert auxologist. SD scores
were calculated using both the Tanner-Whitehouse (TW) and the revised
British 1990 growth references.
RESULTSThe growth of this sample
of children approximated the 1990 growth reference, with mean (SD)
scores for height 0.12 (1.01), weight 0.20 (1.07), and body mass index
(BMI) 0.19 (1.12). By comparison, the TW standards exaggerated the
height and weight centiles. There was minimal channel crossing for
height in either direction with 1.0% crossing up at least one channel
width (0.67 SDscores), and 0.2% down for height. However, there was
clear evidence of weight and particularly BMI increasing with age
between and within subjects, at rates of up to 0.1 SDscores per year.
CONCLUSIONSThis study supports the
adoption of the new growth references, and their use longitudinally for
height monitoring. It also highlights the increasing weight of the
school age population as a public health issue.
Keywords: growth; growth standards; growth references; growth charts; obesity
© 2000 by Archives of Disease in Childhood
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