Trend in physical growth among children in southern Iran, 1988-2003

The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss a significant secular trend in stature, weight and mid-arm circumference (MAC) of school children of the same age (6.5-11.5 years) and sex in representative samples from primary schools of Shiraz (southern Iran) at an interval of 15 years (1988 vs 2003). Both samples include children of various socio-economic backgrounds. For both males and females of each age-class, there are significant positive secular trends in stature, weight and MAC. The results suggest that post-war born children sampled in 2003 are generally taller, heavier and larger than their peers of 15 years earlier born pre- and during the war period of Iraq against Iran. Furthermore, the 2003 sample shows less growth deficits in relation to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reference data. The positive trend can be explained as the result of economic development and improvement of social and health indicators in the post-war Iran reconstruction period.