Growth performance of Bangladeshi affluent school children (5–14 years)

Abstract

A cross sectional anthropometric survey of 2045 healthy children (5-14 years) of affluent society of Dhaka City was done with the aim to compare their growth with the National Centre for Health Statistics (NCHS) standard. It was found that both weight and height of boys and girls of the studied children fall between 25th to 50th percentile of NCHS standard. In case of boys, body weight deviates below 25th percentile after 12 years whereas mean height is nearly parallel to 50th percentile up to 14 years. In case of girls, the pattern of growth is same except the fall below 25th percentile at the age of 8 and 9 years and the height remains above 25th percentile up to 12 years. It can be concluded that mean growth of affluent Bangladeshi school children is comparable to NCHS standard with minor variations.

Childhood Environment Influences Adrenarcheal Timing among First-Generation Bangladeshi Migrant Girls to the UK

“…The heights and weights of first-generation girls measured in this study are, however, similar to those of UK-born girls — between the 50–75 th percentiles of UK growth standards — while the Sylheti girls hover around the 25 th percentile. Data from an earlier study of affluent Dhaka children also show that heights and weights were also only around the 25 th percentile of the United States National Center for Health Statistics' standards [53] . The data presented here for migrants mirror other UK findings where the growth of South Asian infants and children have become comparable to 1990 growth standards for white UK children [54] , and also for earlier 1970 standards [55] .…”