Increased Heights and Weights of Isfahani Female Children and Adolescents in Iran

Abstract

Considering the different patterns of growth in various societies, an anthropometric evaluation of 6-18-year-old female students was carried out in 1997 in Isfahan, Iran with the goal of establishing height and weight values for use in clinical settings. 4638 female Isfahani students aged 6-18 years were selected by a random cluster sampling. Their height (cm) and weight (kg) were measured and the related percentiles were determined. The results were compared with previous studies in Iran using Student's t-test. Findings show an increase of 6-12 cm in height and of 1-4 kg in weight of Isfahani female 6-18-year-old students as compared with a similar study in 1975. The height curves can be approximately superposed on those of NCHS growth charts, but American girls are significantly heavier than Isfahani girls after the age of 14. The growth parameters among Isfahani female students have improved compared with those of their compatriots and also their fellow citizens 22 years earlier. Improvements in nutrition, health services or other unknown environmental factors may have contributed to an increase in the growth indexes.

Trends in weights, heights, BMI and comparison of their differences in urban and rural areas for Iranian children and adolescents 2–18‐year‐old between 1990–1991 and 1999

“…Ayatollahi (1993) reviewed previous studies of human growth in Iran and compared them with his findings on primary school children in Shiraz and concluded that children were bigger than they had been 20 years ago. Aminorroaya and colleagues (2002) have observed that during 1976 to 1997, the weight and height of 10–14‐year‐old girls in Isfahan had increased by 1–4 kg and 6–12 cm, respectively. These reports could not be generalized to the entire population of Iran because they had either small sample sizes or were based on children attending clinics.…”

Physical growth in schoolchildren from Argentina: Comparison with Argentinean and CDC/NCHs growth references

“…For instance, data from Aminorroaya et al (2002) reveal that the height curves of 6-to 17-year-old female students from Iran can almost be superimposed on those of the CDC/NCHS growth charts, but the American girls were significantly taller than Iranian girls after age 14. The growth patterns among Iranian students, however, had improved when compared with those of their fellow citizens from 22 years earlier.…”

Cross-sectional reference values for height, weight and body mass index of schoolchildren living in Tehran, Iran

“…They showed that centiles derived from the data were substantially below US data in both sexes and concluded that the use of locally based growth charts was essential for assessing the growth of children in Iran. In 1997, Aminorroaya et al (2003) conducted a survey on 4364 male students of 6-18 years of age in Isfahan, the third biggest city of Iran in the central part of the country. They noted that their results were comparable with US data.…”

“…They noted that their results were comparable with US data. They also evaluated 4638 2-18-year-old female students and showed that girls' height curves could be approximately superposed on those of US growth charts, but US girls were significantly heavier than Isfahan girls after the age of 14 (Aminorroaya et al 2002). As a whole, although the discrepancy among the results might be because of outdated data, it reveals a need for local standards, especially when results from different areas of Iran differ from each other.…”

“…Previous local studies propounded the need to use charts derived from local data (Hosseini et al 1999;Ayatollahi 2003). There are a few Iranian studies of growth at various ages carried out on limited numbers of children in different parts of the country (Taghi Ayatollahi and Carpenter 1991;Ayatollahi 1995;Hosseini et al 1998;Aminorroaya et al 2002Aminorroaya et al , 2003. The last representative study, conducted on children living in Tehran, was performed by Hosseini et al (1998) on the data obtained during the 1990-1992 National Health Survey.…”