Height and weight of Tokyo schoolchildren with and without intellectual handicaps

The heights, weights and Rohrer Indices (W/H3; RIs) of Tokyo schoolchildren born in 1972/73 with and without intellectual handicaps were compared from 6 to 15 years. The samples of children consisted of 303 children with no intellectual handicaps ('controls') and 308 children with intellectual handicaps including subgroups with Down's syndrome (39 children), autism (49 children) and epilepsy (58 children). Boys and girls with no intellectual handicaps were at all ages significantly taller than schoolchildren with intellectual handicaps. However, there were few significant differences in mean weight between children with and without intellectual handicaps--only in boys at age 15 years and girls at 6, 7, 11 and 12 years. The mean RIs of boys and girls with intellectual handicaps were at all ages significantly higher than those of controls. The subgroup of children with Down's syndrome were the shortest and had the highest mean RI at all ages. Children with epilepsy were also significantly shorter than children with no intellectual handicaps but did not differ much in RI. Autistic children did not differ in height from controls, except for autistic boys who at the ages 6-12 years were significantly taller, indicating a comparatively earlier maturational rate of this specific sample. Autistic boys had a higher RI than controls at 9, 11, 12, 13 and 14 years but autistic girls did not differ significantly from controls at these ages.