Related Experiment Videos
Implications of growth surveys in social and curative pediatrics
1University Hospital for Children and Youths 'Het Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis', Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Insights
Nationwide surveys in the Netherlands tracked child growth and development using key biometric parameters. These studies provide essential reference data for medical assessments and inform public health policies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Anthropometry
Background:
- Childhood is characterized by growth, development, increasing resistance, and decreasing vulnerability.
- Key biometric parameters for assessing child growth and development include attained height, weight-for-height, neuro-motoric development (infancy/preschool), and secondary sex characteristics (adolescence).
Purpose of the Study:
- To present findings from nationwide Dutch growth and development surveys conducted in 1955, 1965, and 1980.
- To establish reference data for individual medical assessments of children.
- To describe the health status of the population through the analysis of secular changes in growth and development.
Main Methods:
- Nationwide representative surveys were conducted in the Netherlands.
- Data collection focused on key biometric parameters and developmental milestones.
- Longitudinal analysis was employed to study secular trends.
Main Results:
- The surveys provide comprehensive reference data for child growth and development in the Netherlands across different time periods.
- Secular changes in growth and development patterns were observed, indicating shifts in the health of the population.
- The data are valuable for understanding population health trends and informing policy.
Conclusions:
- Regular nationwide growth and development surveys are crucial for monitoring child health.
- The collected data serve as a vital resource for clinical practice, public health, and policy-making.
- Understanding secular changes is essential for adapting environmental factors and government policies to the needs of young people.
Abstract:
The main characteristics of children are growth, development, gradually building up of resistance and decrease of vulnerability. The biometric parameters of choice for a general medical assessment of growth and (physical) development are attained height, weight for height, at infancy and pre-school age neuro-motoric development, and at adolescence the successive stages of secondary sex characteristics. In 1955, 1965, and 1980 nation-wide representative growth and development surveys were performed in the Netherlands. The results of such studies serve multiple purposes: they provide reference data for individual medical assessment, and contribute to the description of the health situation of the population by the study of secular changes. The data are also in use in the construction of our living environment and may supply a biological basis for governments policies concerning young people.