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Updated: Aug 7, 2026
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Anthropometric indices of middle socio-economic class school children in Karachi compared with NCHS standards--a
Sina Aziz1, Deneize Asim Puri, Kehkashan Zehra Hossain
1Department of Paediatrics, Sindh Institute of Urology, Civil Hospital, Karachi.
Insights
Pakistani school children
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Public Health Nutrition
- Growth Monitoring
Background:
- Establishing accurate growth charts is crucial for monitoring child development.
- Existing international growth charts may not accurately reflect the Pakistani pediatric population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To measure the height and weight of school-going children in Karachi.
- To compare Pakistani children's growth parameters with the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) growth centile charts.
Main Methods:
- A population-based, cross-sectional study was conducted in Karachi.
- Height and weight measurements were collected from 2,245 healthy school children aged 2–16 years.
- Data were plotted on NCHS centile curves for comparison.
Main Results:
- Pakistani children's P5, P25, and P50 height and weight centiles were significantly below NCHS standards.
- P95 height and weight centiles for Pakistani boys and girls showed less marked differences compared to NCHS.
Conclusions:
- Pakistani children's growth parameters are generally lower than NCHS standards.
- The P95 centile findings suggest a potential rising concern for childhood obesity in Pakistan.
- There is a need to develop specific growth centile charts for the Pakistani pediatric population.
Objective:
To measure height and weight of school going children (2-18 years of age) in Karachi. By means of these parameters we were able to document where the Pakistani paediatric population plot on NCHS growth centile charts.
Methods:
A population based cross-sectional study (in government and private schools, Karachi), in which height and weight were taken using standardized techniques. Two thousand two hundred forty five healthy school-going children 2 to 16 years of age (calculated from date of birth); sex, height and weight were documented. After the survey was completed, height and weight of the children were plotted on NCHS centiles curves.
Results:
P5, P25 and P50 centiles for height and weight of the Pakistani girls and boys was much below that of NCHS. However, P95 for boys and girls weight and height did not differ markedly in the Pakistani and NCHS centiles.
Conclusion:
Height and weight of these children is below the NCHS centile for height and weight. Children plotting near the P95 NCHS, indicates that obesity may be a serious concern in our population. However, further studies are required for support. This pilot study indicates the need for development of centile charts for Pakistani paediatric population.
