AUTHOR=Flores Luis Alberto , Datta Banik Sudip , Cameron Noel , Fragoso Isabel Januário 

TITLE=Growth in height and its association with overweight and obesity in Mexican children: an evaluation based on a nationally representative sample (ENSANUT 2018)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1339195

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2024.1339195

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=The present study aimed to estimate the height growth curve for Mexican boys and girls based on their Body Mass Index (BMI) status (normal and overweight-obese) and to develop a height LMS growth reference for Mexican children aged 2 to 18 years. Methods.Chronological age and height records (7,097 boys and 6,167 girls), were obtained from the Mexican National Survey of Health and Nutrition database. Height growth curves were fitted using the Preece-Baines model and LMS (Lambda, Mu, and Sigma) method. Results. Age at Peak Height Velocity (APHV) was 12.4 and 12.7 years for overweight-obese and normalweight boys, respectively; and at 9.6 and 10.4 for overweight-obese and normal-weight girls, respectively. Growth velocity was higher at the age of take-off in overweight-obese children than normal-weight (5.2 cm/year vs 5.0 cm/year in boys and 6.1 cm/year vs 5.6 cm/year in girls, respectively); nevertheless, growth velocity at APHV was higher for normal-weight children than overweight-obese children (7.4 cm/year vs. 6.6 cm/year in boys; and 6.8 cm/year vs. 6.6 cm/year in girls, respectively). Distance curves developed in the present study and by the World Health Organization (WHO) using LMS, showed similar values for L and S parameters; and a higher M value for the WHO reference. Conclusion. Overweight-obese children had earlier APHV and lower Peak Height Velocity (PHV) compared to normalweight peers. Mexican children and adolescents were shorter than the WHO growth reference by age and sex.