ESTABLISHMENT OF GROWTH VELOCITY CHARTS FOR ASIAN INDIAN CHILDREN

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Height velocity is a crucial anthropometric parameter for the evaluation of mild or recent onset short stature. The WHO recommends updating the growth references every decade. There is no data on height velocity among South Indian children. We therefore undertook this study to establish the normative data.

METHODOLOGY
This prospective longitudinal study included 3,327 apparently healthy children aged 3 to 18 years from government and private schools of Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. Height and weight were measured at baseline and at three monthly intervals for one year (October 2018 to October 2019).

RESULTS
Age- and sex-specific height velocity percentiles were generated. The data was available in 1,627 boys and 1,700 girls. The mean peak height velocity was 7.18 ± 2.56 cm in boys observed at 12-12.9 years and 5.8 ± 2.56 cm in girls at 10-10.9 years.

CONCLUSION
Normative height velocity data for South Indian children has been presented. This is the first large scale study from South India evaluating height velocity data for children aged 3 to 18 years. The database for the study was derived from a heterogeneous population, by including children from rural and urban areas, thereby representative of data from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. These charts can, therefore, be applied to the economically deprived and privileged alike, because a significant proportion of children catered to by paediatricians/endocrinologists in public hospitals belong to the former group.