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Updated: May 23, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Dilemmas in choosing and using growth charts
Michael Hermanussen1, Kaspar Staub, Christian Assmann
1Centre for Evolutionary Medicine, Institute of Anatomy, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Human growth is both a target seeking process regulated by genes and environment, and a highly dynamic process that even under similar social and economic circumstances varies considerably both in amplitude (being short or tall) and tempo (maturing fast or slow). This has led to vivid discussions about which growth chart is the right chart to use. In contrast to wide-spread opinions emphasizing the similarity in early childhood growth among diverse ethnic groups, it has become apparent that a single "global" reference fails to adequately mirror the diversity in human growth. In view of the raising evidence that growth is also influenced by the peer group, we refer to novel, cost-effective procedures that facilitate producing growth references "on demand", for limited regional purposes, for ethnically, socio-economically or politically defined minorities, but also for matching geographically different groups of children and adolescents for international growth and registry studies.
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