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Updated: Mar 29, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
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Do Anthropometric Health Risk Indicators of South African Primary School Children Require National Growth Charts?

Xonné Muller1,2,3, Anita E Pienaar1, Barry Gerber1

  • 1Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation Focus Area, Faculty of Health Science, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa.

Children (Basel, Switzerland)
|March 28, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Global growth charts are suitable for general child wellness monitoring but lack context for specific age, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) variations. Localized growth references are needed for accurate South African child screening.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Growth Monitoring
  • Anthropometry
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Child wellness relies on growth monitoring and screening.
  • Debate exists on using national versus international growth charts for school-aged children.
  • This study examines global references considering age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and anthropometric health indicators (AHIs).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the suitability of global growth references for South African children.
  • To investigate the influence of age, gender, and SES on AHIs.
  • To determine the need for context-specific growth references.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 349 primary school children (ages 6, 9, 12).
  • Measured anthropometric health indicators including stature, body mass, BMI, BFP, skinfold thickness, skeletal muscle, and WC.
  • Analyzed data considering age, gender, and SES interactions.

Main Results:

  • Significant interactions found for age, gender, and SES on waist circumference and skeletal muscle.
  • Height, body mass, and BMI generally met or exceeded WHO standards.
  • Low SES group aligned with WHO standards; high SES group trended above.

Conclusions:

  • WHO growth standards offer general suitability for South African children (6-12 years).
  • Limited context-specific interpretation across age, gender, and SES.
  • Development of national, age-, gender-, and SES-specific references is recommended for improved screening.
Abstract

Keywords:
body compositiongrowth chartsgrowth monitoringprimary school childrenprofiles

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