Physical growth in Indian affluent children (birth-6 years)

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Updated: Oct 3, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
09:36

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

D K Agarwal1, K N Agarwal

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU, Varanasi.

Indian Pediatrics
|April 1, 1994
PubMed

Insights

Indian children

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Growth and Development
  • Human Nutrition
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Assessing child growth is crucial for identifying nutritional status and health trends.
  • Existing growth standards, like European and National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), are widely used.
  • Understanding regional variations in child growth is essential for targeted health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To establish growth percentiles for urban affluent Indian children.
  • To compare Indian children's growth with established European and American standards.
  • To identify potential factors influencing observed growth differences.

Main Methods:

  • Collected anthropometric data (height, weight, head, chest, mid-arm circumferences) from urban affluent children across seven Indian centers.
  • Utilized a smoothed cubic spline least squares method for calculating pooled data percentiles.
  • Sample size: 200 observations per age and sex point (except 18 and 72 months).

Main Results:

  • Pooled data for Indian children showed lower values compared to European and NCHS (American) standards.
  • Children from Ludhiana exhibited growth patterns closer to the NCHS standards.
  • Observed growth differences may be attributed to lower growth velocity in Indian children during the first 18 months.

Conclusions:

  • Urban affluent Indian children in this study demonstrate distinct growth patterns compared to Western standards.
  • Ludhiana children's growth more closely aligns with American standards, suggesting regional variations within India.
  • Slower early growth velocity (first 18 months) might explain the divergence from American growth trajectories.

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