[Gathering measurement data of human growth in height]

After a short review of 2 centuries' measurements in human body height and the growing effectivity of acceleration, the problems in gaining and processing of the data are considered. Among these there are the methods of measurement, selection of adequate personnel, influence of the time of day, and of seasons, transition from supine length to standing height at about 2 years of age, converting of the datum to chronological age etc. Difficulties in treating different sequences and length intervals of measurements are explained by 2 examples, namely a supposed parabolic course of the growth curve for a shorter interval and a growth specific course from the postnatal phase until pubescence. The influence of the factors mentioned is expressed in tables resulting from specially developed formulae for interpolation. Further considerations concern the adaptation of measurements at ad hoc times to values for full, half, and quarterly years of chronological age. As graphical representations for percentiles of body height cannot meet this requirement, numerical data after Tanner et al. for British children have been used in the form of relative values. All contemplations in this contribution should be taken as recommendations to give anthropometrists a basis for further reflections.