Growth attainments of well-off chandigarh children: A mixed longitudinal study |
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Authors: | Bhalla A K |
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Institution: | (1) Advanced Pediatric Center, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, 160 012 Chandigarh, India |
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Abstract: | Distance and velocity pattern of growth for body weight and height of 134 well-off Chandigarh boys aged 9–17 years, and 109
girls aged 9 to 16 years were studied following a mixedlongitudinal growth study design. For both body weight and height pattern-wise,
Chandigarh boys showed close similarity with their American counterparts up to about 13 years of age, while girls did so till
12 years. Where after, Chandigarh children remained lighter and shorter than those of American origin and this differential
may be explained on racial grounds rather than nutritional ones since all children included in this study remained free from
dietary and other health related constraints. Marginally, higher height growth attainments noticed in Chandigarh children
in contrast to their other Indian counterparts during initial years of adolescence shows that Chandigarh children are in process
of expressing their genetic growth potential to its full which has not yet been fully achieved.
The rate (velocity) of weight and height growth in Chandigarh children remained substatially lower than their sex-matched
British counterparts throught the period of study. PHV in boys measured 6.4 cm/yr. and 5.4 cm/yr. in girls. It was attained
at the age of 11.5 years in girls and 12.5 years in boys. Peak weight velocity in boys averaged 3.7 kg/yr., while it measured
4.6 kg/yr. in girls. In girls (11.5 yr.), PWV too was attained earlier than boys (13.5 yr.) by two years. The shorter height
and lighter weight growth attainments noticed in Chandigarh children in contrast to their Western counterparts may be attributed
to slower and lesser magnitude peak growth velocities recorded in Chandigarh children. The use of values presented has been
recommended to monitor and assess growth attainments of Indian children residing in the Union Territory of Chandigarh. |
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Keywords: | Mixed-longitudinal data Growth velocity Weight Height Well-off children |
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