Regional Prevalence of Short Stature in Saudi School-Age Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Objective. To assess the magnitude of regional difference in prevalence of short stature in Saudi children and adolescents. Subjects and Methods. A representative sample from three different regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) (North, Southwest, and Center) was used to calculate the prevalence of short stature (standard deviation score less than −2) in children 5 to 17 years of age. Results. There were 9018 children and adolescents from 5 to 17 years of age (3366, 2825, and 2827 in the Northern, Southwestern and Central regions, resp.) and 51% were boys. In both school-age children and adolescents, there was a significantly higher prevalence of short stature in the Southwestern than in the Northern or the Central region (P < 0.0001). Conclusion. The finding of significant regional variation between regions helps in planning priorities for research and preventive measures.

Idiopathic Short Stature in Children: A Hospital Based Study

“…Rappold et al (2007), reported that in general short stature is a more frequent reason for boys than for girls. Additionally, the prevalence of short stature from three different regions of the KSA in children from 5-17 years of age were 51% boys (El Mouzan et al, 2012). By contrast, this study found that the ISS was in a greater proportion of tested girls than boys (51.7 vs 48.3%) ( Table 1).…”

“…Checkup of the growth chart and investigation of parental height are important factor for the history (Miller and Zimmerman, 2004). There is a little quantitative information describing the clinical features in members with short stature group in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) (Al-Ruhaily and Malabu, 2009;Al-Jurayyan et al, 2012;El Mouzan et al, 2012).…”

Growth Profile and Its Association with Nutrient Intake and Dietary Patterns among Children and Adolescents in Hail Region of Saudi Arabia

“…suggesting the existence of double burden of both under- and overnutrition. Previous studies from KSA also confirmed the presence of double burden of malnutrition, that is, presence of both under- and overnutrition among children and adolescents [10–12, 21]. Limited studies available on prevalence of child malnutrition from KSA suggest national data may alone be misleading in understanding the determinants and consequences and stoutly emphasize that it is crucial to focus on regional inequality which can be a result of ethnic as well as environmental conditions [10, 12, 19].…”

“…Previous studies from KSA also confirmed the presence of double burden of malnutrition, that is, presence of both under- and overnutrition among children and adolescents [10–12, 21]. Limited studies available on prevalence of child malnutrition from KSA suggest national data may alone be misleading in understanding the determinants and consequences and stoutly emphasize that it is crucial to focus on regional inequality which can be a result of ethnic as well as environmental conditions [10, 12, 19]. Few available studies documented the existence of prevalence of deficiencies of micronutrients like vitamin A, vitamin D, calcium, iron, iodine, and zinc among children of KSA (all mentioned nutrients known to influence growth and development of children) and also emphasized the need for higher number of studies to understand the wider impact of these deficiencies [22–25].…”

Short Stature in Children

“…Short stature is common in children, and it is a result of poor linear growth (8) . Short stature statistically is known as children who are shorter than 97% of their age and gender-matched peers (9) .…”