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Growth references for Brazilian children and adolescents: healthy growth in Cariri study

Simonete Silva1, José Maia, Albrecth L Claessens

  • 1Departamento de Educação Física, Universidade Regional do Cariri, Ceará, Brazil. simonete_silva@yahoo.com.br

Annals of Human Biology
|November 19, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Children in Brazil's Cariri region have growth patterns similar to developed countries, but lower height and body mass compared to CDC references and other Brazilian regions. Socioeconomic status was also analyzed.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Anthropometry
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Establishing regional growth references is crucial for monitoring child development.
  • Previous studies highlight variations in growth patterns across different Brazilian regions.
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides widely used growth references.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To establish reference values for height, body mass, and BMI in Cariri children and adolescents.
  • To compare Cariri growth data with CDC and other Brazilian regional references.
  • To investigate the association between socioeconomic status and growth parameters.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized the LMS method to construct centile curves for height, body mass, and BMI.
  • Sample included 3311 girls and 3280 boys aged 7-17 years from the 'Healthy Growth in Cariri' study.
  • Socioeconomic status was categorized based on school type (private vs. public).

Main Results:

  • Significant differences in height and body mass were observed between Cariri children and those from other Brazilian regions and CDC references.
  • Girls in private schools showed average height differences of 0.79-5.9 cm compared to CDC references.
  • Boys in private schools exhibited average height differences of 2.9-8.6 cm compared to CDC references.

Conclusions:

  • Cariri children's growth patterns align with those in developed countries.
  • Absolute height and body mass values in Cariri are notably lower than CDC and other Brazilian regional references.
  • Growth disparities suggest the need for region-specific nutritional and health interventions.
Abstract

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