Growth charts for children aged 6-17 years in Shanxi, China: comparison with other cities of China and WHO.

BACKGROUND: Growth charts are an important method for evaluating a child's health, growth, and nutritional status. It is essential to monitor the growth of children and adolescents using growth charts. OBJECTIVES: To present body mass index (BMI)-for-age references reflecting children's growth in Shanxi. We also compare our new data with growth references of other cities of China and World Health Organization (WHO) growth standards. METHODS: A stratified cluster random sampling method was used to recruit 5461 children and adolescents aged 6-17 years. Height and weight were measured and BMI was calculated. The LMS method was used to calculate the percentile values of body mass index by sex and age. Smoothed BMI-for-age growth curves were presented for both sexes and compared with reference data from other cities of China and WHO. RESULTS: BMI centiles increased with age but with different patterns in both boys and girls. The centile curves from the 3rd to the 50th had a slight increase, while a sharp increase was seen from 11 to 17 years in boys and from 6 to 14 years in girls in the higher centiles. In comparison with other cities of China, the values for the 50th percentile are higher than those reported for children from China 2009, Shanghai, Changsha and China 2010 in both sexes. In comparison with WHO growth references, Chinese girls and boys had higher values in all percentiles, whereas curves of girls look roughly the same. The medians for BMI in Shanxi increase linearly from 6 to 17 years in boys. CONCLUSIONS: The BMI percentiles of children aged 6-17 years in Shanxi differed significantly from the growth reference curves of other cities of China and WHO. Recommending the provision of BMI reference curves for local children and adolescents to assess their growth and development and monitor their nutritional status. Early detection of overweight and obesity in children provides a scientific basis for the prevention and control of overweight and obesity in children.

Growth charts of Brazilian youngs: 20-years data of 95,000 children and adolescents from "Projeto Esporte Brasil".

This article aims to present growth curves for height, weight, and BMI of 95,000 Brazilian youths aged 6 to 17 years, including the five regions of the country, the Amazon region, and indigenous populations, and compare them with the World Health Organization (WHO) growth references. The final sample consisted of 52,729 boys and 42,731 girls from the "Projeto Esporte Brasil" database. Body mass and height information were used to derive the curves. The generalized additive model for location, scale, and shape was employed. In this study, we present smoothed weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age curves for boys and girls. Differences were observed between the results of the Brazilian curves and the WHO growth references. The developed curves will be valuable for professionals in medicine, public health, nutrition, physical education, and other related fields, regarding the assessment of physical growth in Brazilian children and adolescents and monitoring the nutritional status of this population. Additionally, these curves will facilitate the identification of individuals or subgroups at risk of diseases and delayed growth, with a greater focus on specific country-related factors.

Italian neonatal birthweight charts derived from INeS not separated by birth order.

BACKGROUND: Identifying high-risk neonates with abnormal fetal growth is crucial for health risk prediction and early intervention. Small for gestational age (SGA) and large for gestational age (LGA) classifications highlight neonates having a higher risk for postnatal diseases. Accurate diagnosis depends on precise anthropometric measurements and appropriate reference data. In 2010, specific neonatal charts for Italian singletons (INeS charts) were published, tracing separately for first- and later-born neonates due to a 3% birth weight difference. We present INeS charts for birth weight non-separated by first- and later-born babies useful when information on parity is unavailable or unreliable, or for better comparisons with other neonatal charts that are not separated by birth-order. METHODS: INeS charts were traced using a parametric function. Starting with the parameters estimates published in a different paper, INeS charts not separated by birth order were traced for the gestational age range of 23 to 42 weeks. In a second step the charts were parametrized as Cole and Green Lambda Mu and Sigma (LMS) model, allowing computation of standard deviation scores. RESULTS: The centiles of non-separated INeS charts follow between first- and later-born charts. Distances varied due to changing first-born proportions with gestational age, Max differences of about 100g with later born and 70g with first-born were observed at term. S and L functions have a similar shape for boys and girls. S function shows a pick at about 29 weeks, L function has positive values in all the range of gestational age with a pick at 39 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The study presents non-separated Birth Weight INeS charts, bridging the gap when parity information is unavailable. Differences with separated charts were generally small, making them reliable for neonatal health assessment. Insights from L and S parameters contribute to standardized birth weight and adjust it by sex and Gestational Age, useful for defining SGA or LGA neonates. The paper enhances neonatal care tools, showcasing INeS chart flexibility in different clinical scenarios and supporting neonatology research.

Disparities with global standards about growth references of mid-upper arm circumference-for-age for Pakistani children aged 6-60 months.

AIM: Growth reference values about mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) are vital for assessing children's nutritional status. However, Pakistan lacks these reference values and growth charts. This study aims to develop these for children aged 6-60 months and compare them with global standards. METHODS: The data were acquired from the 2018 National Nutrition Survey of Pakistan, which was conducted by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) during 2018-2019. The final study cohort comprised 57 285 children, with 51% being boys. Percentile values and charts for MUAC-for-age were developed using generalised additive models for location, scale and shape with the Box-Cox power exponential distribution. RESULTS: The mean MUAC was 14.21 cm (±2.07 cm) and 14.13 cm (±2.12 cm) for the boys and girls, respectively. At 60 months of age, the P3 and P97 percentiles for girls were slightly higher than those for boys. The median percentiles of Pakistani children were smaller than the World Health Organisation 2007 standards and with international references. CONCLUSION: We observed disparities in MUAC-for-age growth references among Pakistani children compared to global standards, highlighting regional, age and gender variations. This underscores the need for developing countries like Pakistan to establish their growth references.

Comparative analysis of foetal and neonatal growth curves.

INTRODUCTION: Our aim was to determine which foetal or neonatal growth curves discriminate the probability of dying of newborns with low birth weight for their gestational age (small for gestational age, SGA) and sex (weight < 10th percentile) and to establish the curves that are presumably most useful for monitoring growth through age 10 years. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The analysis included every neonate (15 122) managed in our hospital (2013-2022) and all neonates born preterm before 32 weeks (6913) registered in the SEN1500 database (2019-2022). We considered most useful those curves with the highest likelihood ratio (LR) for dying with or without a history of SGA in each subgroup of gestational ages. Theoretically, the optimal curves for monitoring growth would be those with a higher R2 in the quantile regression formulas for the 50th percentile. RESULTS: The growth curves exhibiting the strongest association between SGA and hospital mortality are the Intergrowth fetal curves and the Fenton neonatal curves in infants born preterm before 32 weeks. However, the optimal curves for premature babies and neonates overall were those of Olsen and Intergrowth. The most useful curves to monitor anthropometric values alone until age 10 years of age are the longitudinal Intergrowth curves followed by the WHO standards, but if a single reference is desired from birth through age 10 years, the best option is the Fenton curves followed by the WHO standards. CONCLUSIONS: The Intergrowth reference provides the most discriminating foetal growth curves. In neonatal clinical practice, the optimal references are the Fenton followed by the WHO charts.

Expected and Desirable Preterm and Small Infant Growth Patterns.

Adequate nutrition is necessary for achieving optimal growth and neurodevelopment. Growth is a natural and expected process that happens concomitantly with rapid advancements in neurodevelopment. Serial weight, length, and head circumference growth measures are essential for monitoring development, although identifying pathological deviations from normal growth can pose challenges. Appropriate growth assessments require considerations that a range of sizes for length, head circumference, and weight are expected and appropriate. Because of genetic differences and morbidities, there is a considerable overlap between the growth of healthy infants and those with growth alterations. Parents tend to be over-concerned about children who plot low on growth charts and often need reassurance. Thus, the use of terms such as "poor" growth or growth "failure" are discouraged when growth is approximately parallel to growth chart curves even if their size is smaller than specific percentiles. No specific percentile should be set as a growth goal; individual variability should be expected. An infant's size at birth is important information that goes beyond the common use of prognostic predictions of appropriate compared with small or large for gestational age. The lower the birthweight, the lower the nutrient stores and the more important the need for nutrition support. Compared to term infants, preterm infants at term-equivalent age have a higher percentage of body fat, but this diminishes over the next months. Current research findings support expert recommendations that preterm infants should grow, after early postnatal weight loss, similar to the fetus and then term-born infants, which translates to growth approximately parallel to growth chart curves. There is no need for a trade-off between optimum cognition and optimum future health. Each high-risk infant needs individualized nutrition and growth assessments. This review aims to examine infant growth expectations and messaging for parents of preterm and term-born infants within the broader causal framework.

Peso al nacer en el noroeste argentino. Comparación con una referencia nacional y un estándar internacional / Birth weight in the Northwest region of Argentina. Comparison with a national reference and an international standard

Introducción. El tamaño al nacer se encuentra sujeto a influencias genéticas y ambientales; la altura geográfica es muy influyente. El peso al nacer (PN) es el indicador más utilizado para evaluarlo; existen diferentes estándares y referencias. Debido a la variabilidad de la distribución del PN en relación con la altura en la provincia de Jujuy (Argentina), este trabajo analiza la distribución percentilar del PN para tierras altas (TA) y tierras bajas (TB) jujeñas según edad gestacional (EG) y sexo, y su comparación con una referencia nacional y el estándar internacional INTERGROWTH-21st (IG-21). Población y métodos. Se analizaron los registros de 78 524 nacidos vivos en Jujuy en el período 20092014. Utilizando el método LMS, se estimaron los percentiles 3, 10, 50, 90 y 97 de PN/EG por sexo, para TA (≥2000 msnm), TB (<2000 msnm) y el total provincial, y se compararon gráficamente con la referencia poblacional argentina de Urquía y el estándar IG-21. La significación estadística se determinó mediante la prueba de Wilcoxon. Resultados. El PN en Jujuy presentó distribución heterogénea, con diferencias estadísticamente significativas (p <0,05) entre TB y TA. Al comparar con la referencia nacional y el estándar IG-21, se observaron diferencias por altitud, principalmente en los percentiles 90 y 97 para ambas regiones, y en los percentiles 3 y 10 en TA comparados con el estándar. Conclusiones. Se observó variabilidad de la distribución del PN asociada a la altura geográfica, por lo que, para evaluar el crecimiento intrauterino, resulta fundamental incluir la EG y el contexto donde transcurre la gestación.

Introduction. Size at birth is subject to genetic and environmental influences; altitude is highly influential. Birth weight (BW) is the most widely used indicator to assess size at birth; different standards and references are available. Due to the variability in BW distribution in relation to altitude in the province of Jujuy (Argentina), the purpose of this study is to analyze the percentile distribution of BW in the highlands (HL) and the lowlands (LL) of Jujuy based on gestational age (GA) and sex and compare it with a national reference and the INTERGROWTH-21 st (IG-21) international standard. Population and methods. The records of 78 524 live births in Jujuy in the 2009­2014 period were analyzed. Using the LMS method, the 3 rd, 10 th, 50 th, 90 th, and 97 th percentiles of BW/GA by sex were estimated for the HL (≥ 2000 MASL), the LL (< 2000 MASL), and the total for Jujuy, and compared with the Argentine population reference by Urquía and the IG-21 standard using growth charts. The statistical significance was established using the Wilcoxon test. Results. BW in Jujuy showed a heterogeneous distribution, with statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) between the LL and the HL. When compared with the national reference and the IG-21 standard, differences in terms of altitude were observed, mainly in the 90 th and 97 th percentiles for both regions and the 3 rd and 10 th percentiles in the HL compared with the international standard. Conclusions. BW distribution varied in association with altitude; therefore, to assess intrauterine growth, it is critical to include GA and the environment in which the pregnancy takes place.

A growth chart of brain function from infancy to adolescence based on EEG.

BACKGROUND: In children, objective, quantitative tools that determine functional neurodevelopment are scarce and rarely scalable for clinical use. Direct recordings of cortical activity using routinely acquired electroencephalography (EEG) offer reliable measures of brain function. METHODS: We developed and validated a measure of functional brain age (FBA) using a residual neural network-based interpretation of the paediatric EEG. In this cross-sectional study, we included 1056 children with typical development ranging in age from 1 month to 18 years. We analysed a 10- to 15-min segment of 18-channel EEG recorded during light sleep (N1 and N2 states). FINDINGS: The FBA had a weighted mean absolute error (wMAE) of 0.85 years (95% CI: 0.69-1.02; n = 1056). A two-channel version of the FBA had a wMAE of 1.51 years (95% CI: 1.30-1.73; n = 1056) and was validated on an independent set of EEG recordings (wMAE = 2.27 years, 95% CI: 1.90-2.65; n = 723). Group-level maturational delays were also detected in a small cohort of children with Trisomy 21 (Cohen's d = 0.36, p = 0.028). INTERPRETATION: A FBA, based on EEG, is an accurate, practical and scalable automated tool to track brain function maturation throughout childhood with accuracy comparable to widely used physical growth charts. FUNDING: This research was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia, Helsinki University Diagnostic Center Research Funds, Finnish Academy, Finnish Paediatric Foundation, and Sigrid Juselius Foundation.

Anthropometric Growth Reference for Indian Children and Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to develop anthropometric growth references for Indian children and adolescents, based on available 'healthy' child data from multiple national surveys. METHODOLOGY: Data on 'healthy' children, defined by comparable WHO's Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS) selection criteria, were extracted from four Indian surveys over the last 2 decades, viz, NFHS-3, 4, and 5 and Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS). Reference distributions of height-for-age for children up to 19 years, weight-for-age for children up to 9y, weight-for-height for children less than 5 years and BMI for age for children between 5-19 y were estimated by GAMLSS with Box-Cox Power Exponential (BCPE) family. The national prevalence of growth faltering was also estimated by the NFHS-5 and CNNS data. RESULTS: The distributions of the new proposed Indian growth references are consistently lower than the WHO global standard, except in the first 6 months of age. Based on these references, growth faltering in Indian children and adolescents reduced > 50% in comparison with the WHO standard. CONCLUSION: The study findings revealed that the WHO one-standard-fits-all approach may lead to inflated estimates of under nutrition in India and could be a driver of misdirected policy and public health expenditure in the Indian context. However, these findings need validation through prospective and focussed studies for more robust evidence base.

Novel growth reference ImaGrow differed from existing charts for preterm children aged 0-2 years.

AIM: This study aimed to address the critical need for more accurate growth reference charts for preterm infants, with a particular focus on low- and very low-birth-weight infants. METHODS: The subjects were recruited at a single tertiary centre. The cohort comprised singleton and twin infants born before 37 weeks of gestation, with data collected from 2000 to 2016. Standardised measurements of body parameters were recorded in this mixed longitudinal survey. LMS method was utilised for data analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics Version 21. The validation with another new cohort was executed. RESULTS: A total of 1781 infants (52.5% boys) met the inclusion criteria. The median gestational age at birth was 30 weeks, with a median birth weight of 1350 grams. The main findings included the construction of ImaGrow charts for low- and very low-birth-weight infants and significant differences in growth trajectories compared to Fenton+WHO charts. CONCLUSION: Our comprehensive growth references, ImaGrow, are based on a long-term auxological assessment of preterm infants and differ from charts derived from size-at-birth standards or charts for term babies. These charts have significant implications for clinical practice in monitoring and assessing the growth of preterm infants.

Identifying biologically implausible values in big longitudinal data: an example applied to child growth data from the Brazilian food and nutrition surveillance system.

BACKGROUND: Several strategies for identifying biologically implausible values in longitudinal anthropometric data have recently been proposed, but the suitability of these strategies for large population datasets needs to be better understood. This study evaluated the impact of removing population outliers and the additional value of identifying and removing longitudinal outliers on the trajectories of length/height and weight and on the prevalence of child growth indicators in a large longitudinal dataset of child growth data. METHODS: Length/height and weight measurements of children aged 0 to 59 months from the Brazilian Food and Nutrition Surveillance System were analyzed. Population outliers were identified using z-scores from the World Health Organization (WHO) growth charts. After identifying and removing population outliers, residuals from linear mixed-effects models were used to flag longitudinal outliers. The following cutoffs for residuals were tested to flag those: -3/+3, -4/+4, -5/+5, -6/+6. The selected child growth indicators included length/height-for-age z-scores and weight-for-age z-scores, classified according to the WHO charts. RESULTS: The dataset included 50,154,738 records from 10,775,496 children. Boys and girls had 5.74% and 5.31% of length/height and 5.19% and 4.74% of weight values flagged as population outliers, respectively. After removing those, the percentage of longitudinal outliers varied from 0.02% (<-6/>+6) to 1.47% (<-3/>+3) for length/height and from 0.07 to 1.44% for weight in boys. In girls, the percentage of longitudinal outliers varied from 0.01 to 1.50% for length/height and from 0.08 to 1.45% for weight. The initial removal of population outliers played the most substantial role in the growth trajectories as it was the first step in the cleaning process, while the additional removal of longitudinal outliers had lower influence on those, regardless of the cutoff adopted. The prevalence of the selected indicators were also affected by both population and longitudinal (to a lesser extent) outliers. CONCLUSIONS: Although both population and longitudinal outliers can detect biologically implausible values in child growth data, removing population outliers seemed more relevant in this large administrative dataset, especially in calculating summary statistics. However, both types of outliers need to be identified and removed for the proper evaluation of trajectories.

Estimating Maturity Status in Elite Youth Soccer Players: Evaluation of Methods.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to evaluate the concordance of predicted maturity status classifications (pre-, circa-, or post-peak height velocity (PHV)) relative to observed age at PHV in youth soccer players. METHODS: Longitudinal height records for 124 male soccer players were extracted from academy records spanning the 2000 to 2022 seasons. Age at PHV for each player was estimated with the Superimposition by Translation and Rotation model. Players were classified as pre-, circa-, or post-PHV using both ±1- and ±0.5-yr criteria to define the circa-PHV interval. Maturity status was estimated with several prediction protocols: maturity offset (Mirwald, Moore-1, Moore-2), maturity ratio (Fransen), and percentage of predicted adult height (PAH%) using the Khamis-Roche and Tanner-Whitehouse 2 equations using several bands: 85% to 96%, 88% to 96%, 88% to 93%, and 90% to 93% for the circa-PHV interval, and visual evaluation of individual growth curves alone or with PAH% based on Khamis-Roche and Tanner-Whitehouse 2. Concordance of maturity status classifications based on complete growth curves and predicted estimates of maturity status was addressed with percentage agreement and Cohen's kappa. RESULTS: Visual evaluation of the growth curves had the highest concordance (≈80%) with maturity status classifications (pre-, circa-, post-PHV) based on longitudinal data for individual players. Predicted maturity offset with the Mirwald, Moore-1, and Fransen equations misclassified about one-third to one-half of the players, whereas concordance based on PAH% varied with the band used, but not with the method of height prediction. CONCLUSIONS: Visual assessment of the individual growth curves by an experienced assessor provides an accurate estimate of maturity status relative to PHV. Maturity offset prediction equations misclassify the majority of players, whereas PAH% provides a reasonably valid alternative.

Development of specific growth charts for children with Fanconi anemia.

Patients with Fanconi anemia (FA) are often perceived to have poor growth when general population growth curves are utilized. We hypothesize that FA patients have unique growth and aimed to create FA-specific growth charts. Height and weight data from ages 0 to 20 years were extracted from medical records of patients treated at the Fanconi Anemia Comprehensive Care Clinic at the University of Minnesota. Height, weight, and BMI growth curves were generated and fitted to reference percentiles using the Lambda-Mu-Sigma method. FA-specific percentiles were compared to WHO standards for ages 0-2 and CDC references for ages 2-20. In FA males, the 50th height- and weight-for-age percentiles overlap with the 3rd reference percentile. In FA females, only the 50th height-for-age percentile overlaps with the 3rd reference percentile. For weight, FA females show progressive growth failure between 6 and 24 months followed by stabilization around the 50th percentile. The FA BMI-for-age percentiles show similar patterns to the weight-for-age percentiles but have different timing of onset of adiposity rebound and broader variability in females. Growth in FA patients follows a different trajectory than available normative curves. FA-specific growth charts may be useful to better guide accurate growth expectations, evaluations, and treatment.

Growth charts for weight and height of Indian children with Down syndrome.

Age and gender specific growth charts for Indian children with Down syndrome (DS) based on longitudinal data have not been published. To establish percentile growth charts for DS children inhabiting northwestern parts of India, body weight and length/height of 1125 (Male: 752, Female: 373) children with DS aged <1 month to 10 years, enrolled from the "Genetics Clinic" were measured at half yearly age intervals in the "Growth Clinic" of the Institute from August 1994 to November 2018. A total of 2089 observations were made on these children using standardized anthropometric techniques and instruments following a prospective mixed-longitudinal growth research design. Using the LMS method, age and sex-specific percentile growth charts (<1 month to 10 years) for weight, and length/ height were generated. Unpaired t-test was used to compare mean growth attainments of study children with those of DS patients representing other population groups as well as their normal Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS and Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) counterparts. The 50th percentile growth curves for both weight and length/height of Indian children with DS demonstrated a regular increase. As compared to their normal MGRS and Indian (IAP) counterparts, the children with DS had lower weight and height attainments. The boys and girls with Down syndrome showed short stature (height < 3rd centile) from the age of 1 year till 10 years and also became underweight beyond 5 years. As compared to their normal counterparts, children with Down syndrome exhibited compromised auxological attainments. The use of growth charts presented herein may be used to compare and monitor growth and nutritional status of Indian children with Down syndrome.

Brazilian growth charts for Williams-Beuren Syndrome at ages 2 to 18 years.

OBJECTIVE: To develop growth charts for weight-for-age, height-for-age, and body mass index (BMI)-for-age for both genders aged 2 to 18 years for Brazilian patients with Williams-Beuren Syndrome (WBS). METHODS: This is a multicenter, retrospective, and longitudinal study, data were collected from the medical records of boys and girls with a confirmed diagnosis of WBS in three large university centers in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Growth charts stratified by gender and age in years were developed using LMSchartmaker Pro software. The LMS (Lambda Mu Sigma) method was used to model the charts . The quality of the settings was checked by worm plots. RESULTS: The first Brazilian growth charts for weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age stratified by gender were constructed for WBS patients aged 2 to 18 years. CONCLUSION: The growth charts developed in this study can help to guide family members and to improve the health care offered by health professionals.