Growth Charts of Length and Height from Birth to Six Years of Age in Japanese Triplets

Abstract

We analyzed the characteristics associated with the growth in length and height of Japanese triplets from birth to 6 years of age and present the growth charts for them. The study included 354 mothers and their 1,061 triplet children, who were born between 1978 and 2006. Data were collected through a mailed questionnaire sent to the mothers asking for information recorded in medical records. For these births, data on triplets' length and height growth, gestational age, sex, parity, and maternal age at delivery were obtained from records in the Maternal and Child Health Handbooks, which is provided by the authorities after a report of pregnancy. Birth length showed the strongest contribution to height of triplets from 1 to 6 years of age. In addition, birthweight was also a significant contributing factor to height from 1 to 3 years of age. Compared to the 50th percentile of the growth standard for the general population of Japan, the length and height deficit of the triplets was approximately 15% at birth (male, –7.0 cm; female, –7.0 cm), decreased within the first year of age, and fluctuated between 2 and 5% until 6 years of age (male, –3.7 cm; female, –3.3 cm). In conclusion, triplets have lower birth length and subsequent height than singletons. In spite of the catch-up growth during the first year of life, they are behind singletons even in mid-childhood. This study provides height growth curves for triplets.

Height Growth of Triplets from Birth to 12 Years of Age in Japan

“…Meanwhile, the height deficit of the triplets compared to the general population was greatest at birth: approximately 15%. These deficits decreased within the first year of age, but were found to remain between 2% and 5% for height until 6 years of age (Yokoyama et al, 2009). In the present study, the height deficit of triplets compared to the general population of Japan remained between 2% and 5% until 12 years of age.…”

Weight Growth of Triplet Infants From Birth to Twelve Years of Age

“…Meanwhile, the weight deficit of the triplets compared to the general population was greatest at birth: more than 40%. These deficits decreased within the first year of life, but were found to fluctuate between 4% and 9% for weight until 6 years of age (Yokoyama et al, 2008; Yokoyama et al, 2009). The difference of weight between the general population and triplets was approximately 1.8 kg at 6 years of age.…”

“…Physical growth of triplets was found to be behind singletons even in mid-childhood in spite of the rapid catchup growth during the first year of life (Luke et al, 2006;Yokoyama et al, 2008;Yokoyama et al, 2009). However, there have been no reports of weight growth of triplets after 6 years of age.…”

Literature Review: Pemanfaatan Buku Kesehatan Ibu dan Anak (KIA) serta Potensi Pengembangan Selanjutnya

“…Jepang merupakan salah satu negara maju yang menggunakan buku KIA, namun saat ini studi di Jepang terkait evaluasi efektifitas pemanfaatanbuku KIA sudah jarang ditemukan. Hal ini dapat dikatakan wajar karena keberhasilan Jepang yang telah mencapai cakupan layanan tingkat tinggi (100%) untuk buku KIA (Akashi, et al, 2018;Takeuchi, Sakagami, & Perez, 2016); sehingga mayoritas studi di Jepang lebih berfokus pada pemanfaatan buku KIA sebagai catatan informasi kesehatan dalam suatu studi/penelitian (sumber data sekunder) (Yokoyama, et al, 2008;Yokoyama, et al, 2009;Tanabe, et al, 2011;Yokoyama, et al, 2011;Kouda, et al, 2012;Yokoyama, et al, 2012;Uno, et al, 2012;Fujita, et al, 2013;Yokoyama, 2013;Mori, et al, 2014;Tanaka & Miyake, 2014;Ichikawa, Fujiwara, & Nakayamam, 2015;Hasegawa et al, 2017;Matsuda, et al, 2016;Melby, Yamana, & Surkan, 2016;Katsuragi, et al, 2017;Kato, et al, 2017;Nanri, et al, 2017;Nishizaki, et al, 2018;Yamakita, et al, 2018). Negara dengan masalah krisis sosial politik, AKI dan AKB yang masih tinggi (Kaneko, et al, 2017), negara berpenghasilan rendah dan menengah (Nakamura, 2010), serta negara dengan keterbatasan sumber daya (Osaki, Hattori, & Kosen, 2013), sangat disarankan untuk mengimplementasikan buku KIA dan melakukan penelitian lebih lanjut (Mori, et al, 2015).…”