Related Experiment Videos
Measuring children: one reference for all
Insights
Child growth in developing countries is comparable to industrialized nations, influenced by socioeconomic status, not race. International growth standards are suitable for assessing child nutrition status in these regions.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Nutrition Science
- Global Health
Background:
- International child growth standards are crucial for assessing nutritional status in diverse populations.
- Previous research has questioned the applicability of industrialized country growth standards in developing nations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the appropriateness of using industrialized country growth standards for children in developing countries.
- To determine the primary factors influencing child growth in developing countries.
Main Methods:
- Collected height, weight, and age data from 2366 children (6-59 months) in Egypt, Togo, and Haiti from privileged socioeconomic groups.
- Compared collected data with the National Center for Health Statistics/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (NCHS/CDC) reference population of healthy U.S. children.
Main Results:
- Height-for-age and weight-for-height distributions were nearly identical between privileged children in developing countries and the U.S. reference population.
- Privileged children in developing countries showed higher weight-for-height centiles above 100 cm, indicating a potential overweight issue.
- Socioeconomic status was identified as the primary determinant of child growth, overshadowing race and ethnicity.
Conclusions:
- The NCHS/CDC growth reference is appropriate for assessing the nutritional status of preschool children in developing countries.
- Socioeconomic factors play a more significant role in child growth than race or ethnicity.
- Overweight may be a growing concern in privileged populations within developing countries.
Abstract:
Growth standards developed in industrialised countries are appropriate for measuring child growth in developing countries. From data collected among privileged groups of children in developing countries, we have concluded that child growth is mainly influenced by socioeconomic status and not by race or by ethnicity. Height, weight, and age data were collected from 2366 children aged 6-59 months in Egypt, Togo, and Haiti. These children were chosen from private day-care centres, paediatricians' offices, and families of military and Government officials. These data were compared with the NCHS/CDC reference population, which is representative of healthy U.S. children. Distributions of weight-for-height and height-for-age values for the privileged group and the reference population were nearly identical. The 5th, 50th, and 95th centiles height-for-age of the privileged group did not differ greatly from the reference population. The privileged group, however, was heavier than the reference population at heights greater than 100 cm for the 50th and 95th centiles. Overweight appears to be a greater problem in those privileged groups than in the reference population. Since growth in privileged children in these developing countries and in the U.S. children is similar, we feel that use of the NCHS/CDC reference is justified for measuring nutrition status of preschool children in developing countries.