[Weight and height of school children from the L'Horta region (Valencia)]

The growth and development of Valencian children from 6 to 14 years of age was studied using the weight and height of a representative sample (n = 2011) of school children in L'Horta de Valencia area. They represent 62% and 32.5% of the school population of the Valencia province and of the Comunidad Valenciana, respectively. The sample was proportional to the whole population in the geographical area and to sex and age. The measured children came from 10 schools, some of which were public and some private, drawn at random. After obtaining the permission from the school administrative board the measurements were taken, always by the same trained anthropometrist and with the same instruments, which were calibrated daily. The application of the Lilliefors test showed that the distribution of weight and height according to age was normal in the majority of the groups of age. Therefore, the Student t-test was applied to compare girls and boys, and given the fact that the symmetry was not complete in all age ranges, the results are expressed as percentiles. From 6 to 14 years girls and boys in Valencia show a similar weight evolution. Only in children in the highest percentiles, can be observed sex-related differences from the age of 12 on. In general, up to 13-14 years of age boys were slightly taller than girls of the same age. From this age on boys follow continue growing while girls stop their longitudinal growth.