Use of national and international growth charts for studying height in European children: development of up-to-date European height-for-age charts

Growth charts based on data collected in different populations and time periods are key tools to assess children's linear growth. We analyzed the impact of geographic factors and the secular trend on height-for-age charts currently used in European populations, developed up-to-date European gro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2012-08, Vol.7 (8), p.e42506-e42506
Main Authors: Bonthuis, Marjolein, van Stralen, Karlijn J, Verrina, Enrico, Edefonti, Alberto, Molchanova, Elena A, Hokken-Koelega, Anita C S, Schaefer, Franz, Jager, Kitty J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Analysis
Body Height
Body mass index
Charts
Child
Child development
Children
Children & youth
Chronic kidney failure
Clinical medicine
Councils
Disabled children
Disease control
End-stage renal disease
Endocrine therapy
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acids
Europe
Geography
Girls
Growth
Growth hormones
Growth rate
Health informatics
Hemodialysis
Hospitals
Humans
Impact analysis
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Kidney diseases
Kidney Failure, Chronic - physiopathology
Measurement techniques
Medicine
Nephrology
Pediatric diseases
Pediatrics
Physical growth
Populations
Society
Surveys
Trade shows
Transplants & implants
Trends
Values
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Summary:Growth charts based on data collected in different populations and time periods are key tools to assess children's linear growth. We analyzed the impact of geographic factors and the secular trend on height-for-age charts currently used in European populations, developed up-to-date European growth charts, and studied the effect of using different charts in a sample of growth retarded children. In an international survey we obtained 18 unique national height-for-age charts from 28 European countries and compared them with charts from the World Health Organization (WHO), Euro-Growth reference, and Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As an example, we obtained height data from 3,534 children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) from 13 countries via the ESPN/ERA-EDTA registry, a patient group generally suffering from growth retardation. National growth charts showed a clear secular trend in height (mean height increased on average 0.6 cm/decade) and a North-South height gradient in Europe. For countries without a recent (>1990) national growth chart novel European growth charts were constructed from Northern and Southern European reference populations, reflecting geographic height differences in mean final height of 3.9 cm in boys and 3.8 cm in girls. Mean height SDS of 2- to 17-year-old ESRD patients calculated from recent national or derived European growth charts (-1.91, 95% CI: -1.97 to -1.85) was significantly lower than when using CDC or WHO growth charts (-1.55, 95% CI: -1.61 to -1.49) (P
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0042506