Cross-sectional study of height and weight in the population of Andalusia from age 3 to adulthood

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES In Andalusia there were no studies including a representative sample of children and adolescent population assessing growth and weight increase. Our objectives were to develop reference standards for weight, height and BMI for the Andalusian pediatric population, from 3 to 18 years of age for both genders, and to identify the final adult height in Andalusia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Two samples were collected. The first included individuals from 3 to 18 years of age (3592 girls and 3605 boys). They were stratified according type of study center, size of population of origin, age (32 categories of 0.5 years) and gender, using cluster sampling. Subjects from >18 to 23 years of age (947 women and 921 men) were sampled in 6 non-university educational centers and several university centers in Granada. Exclusion criteria included sons of non-Spanish mother or father, and individuals with chronic conditions and/or therapies affecting growth. Two trained fellows collected the data through February to December 2004, for the first sample, and through January to May 2005, for the second.Reference curves were adjusted using Cole's LMS method, and the quality of the adjustment was assessed using the tests proposed by Royston. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was applied to the final models obtained. RESULTS Data for 9065 cases (4539 women and 4526 men) were obtained; 79.39% (n = 7197) in the up to 18 years of age group. In the first sampling only 0.07% (3 girls and 2 boys) refused to participate in the study. In addition, 327 students (4.5%) were absent when sampling was done. We present mean and standard deviation fort height, weight and BMI at 0.5 years intervals, from 3 to 23 years of age, for both genders. After adjustment with the different models, percentiles for height, weight (percentiles 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 90, 95, and 97) and BMI (percentiles 3, 5, 50, 85, 95, and 97) are presented for both genders. CONCLUSION This is the first study in Andalusia with a representative sample from the child-juvenile population to investigate weight, height and BMI in subjects from 3 to 23 years of age. The great variability observed in the values from sample of 18 to 23 years of age individuals, ensures the inclusion of extreme values, although random sampling was not used. There still is a lack of standard reference values for the Andalusian population younger done 3 years of age.