January - March 2012, Volume 8, Issue 1

Chirita Emandi A, Puiu M, Gafencu M, Pienar C

Growth References for School Aged Children in Western Romania

Acta Endo (Buc) 2012, 8 (1): 133-152
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2012.133

Aims. To provide growth references for school-aged children in western Romania, to compare them with other national and\r\ninternational growth charts and evaluate the prevalence of overweight and obesity.\r\nMethods. A total of 3731 children, aged 7-19 years, from Timis county, were examined by medical students, between\r\nFebruary 2010-June 2011. Growth references for height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) were constructed with LMS method and LMSChartMaker software. The Romanian 3rd, 50th and 95th percentile for height and BMI were compared with national and international growth references. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was determined with IOTF definition.\r\nResults. Crude and smoothed percentiles for weight, height and BMI were shown for this population. The comparison\r\nprovided data regarding the variation of growth models in different populations. Our results demonstrated a high prevalence of overweight (18.2%) and obesity (7.2%) in our\r\npopulation, higher in boys versus girls.\r\nConclusions. Our study constructed growth references for a Romanian population. The comparison with other growth references reflected the regional differences in growth\r\npatterns between populations.

Keywords: weight, height, body mass index, percentiles

Correspondence: A. Chirita Emandi, ?Louis Turcanu? Emergency Hospital for Children -, str Iosif Nemoianu nr 2-4 Timisoara 300011, Romania, Email: adela.chirita@yahoo.com