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The Importance of National Monitoring of Children's Growth: Consensus Statement From the Nordic PromoKids Network
Liselotte Schäfer Elinder1, Lauren Lissner2, Annika Janson3,4
1Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden.
Insights
Nordic countries measure children's growth data, but central registration varies. Consensus calls for mandatory, non-stigmatizing growth surveillance in national plans to combat childhood obesity and inequality.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Pediatrics
- Growth Monitoring
Background:
- Childhood growth surveillance is crucial for public health planning.
- Nordic countries have established systems for measuring children's physical development.
- Variations exist in data collection and utilization across these nations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess current Nordic children's growth surveillance practices.
- To identify areas for improvement in data use and public health strategies.
- To achieve consensus on enhanced national growth monitoring.
Main Methods:
- Networked collaboration among public health professionals (PromoKids).
- Comparative analysis of national growth surveillance systems in five Nordic countries.
- Evaluation of data collection and consolidation approaches.
Main Results:
- All Nordic countries routinely measure child height and weight from birth.
- Centralized data registration for public health planning is inconsistent.
- Finland and Denmark demonstrate more advanced data collection systems.
Conclusions:
- Growth surveillance must be mandatory in national plans for managing growth disorders and obesity.
- Protocols should avoid stigmatizing children with overweight.
- Nordic collaboration is needed for comprehensive data to address inequalities and evaluate interventions.
Aim:
To describe the current approaches to surveillance and use of data on children's growth in the Nordic countries and to reach consensus on how this can be improved.
Methods:
Members of the Promoting Healthy Weight in Children (PromoKids) network and additional public health professionals from five Nordic countries described their respective national growth surveillance systems. The various approaches to data collection and consolidation were analysed and compared.
Results:
In Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland, all children's weight and height are measured repeatedly at different intervals from birth by child and school health services. However, the data are not consistently registered centrally in all countries for use in public health planning, policymaking and research. Finland and Denmark had the most mature systems for data collection.
Conclusion:
A consensus was reached that surveillance of body weight and height should be a mandatory element of national action plans to prevent and manage growth disorders including obesity, and to identify susceptible population groups. Surveillance protocols should be designed to prevent stigmatisation of children with overweight. Nordic countries should collaborate to accomplish comprehensive data coverage to uncover social inequalities and evaluate societal actions to prevent obesity in children.
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