Development of a Zimbabwean child growth curve and its comparison with the World Health Organization child growth standards
African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Development of a Zimbabwean child growth curve and its comparison with the World Health Organization child growth standards | |
| Creator | Marume, Anesu Moherndran, Archary Tinarwo, Partson Mahomed, Saajida | |
| Description | Background: There is limited research that describes the growth trajectories of African children. The development of World Health Organization (WHO) growth standards considered a sample of children who lived in environments optimum for human growth.Aim: This study aimed to develop weight-for-age and height-for-age growth curves from the Zimbabwean 2018 National Nutrition Survey and compare them with the WHO growth standards.Setting: Study participants were recruited from all districts in Zimbabwe.Methods: Height-for-age and weight-for-age data collected from 32 248 children were used to develop the Zimbabwean references. Smooth growth curves (height, weight and body mass index [BMI]-for-age) were estimated with the Lambda Mu Sigma (LMS) method and compared with the WHO growth standards.Results: Zimbabwean children were shorter and weighed less in comparison with the WHO growth standards. The –2 standard deviation (s.d.) Z-score curves (height-for-age) for Zimbabwean children (boys and girls) were below the –1 s.d. Z-score curves of the WHO growth standards. The Zimbabwean Z-scores (BMI-for-age) values above –1 s.d. were significantly higher in comparison with the corresponding WHO growth standards.Conclusion: Utilising the WHO growth standards would diagnose a higher proportion of Zimbabwean children as stunted whilst underestimating the proportion at risk of obesity. The WHO growth standards lack a consideration of the geographical, economic, political and environmental constraints existing between countries. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2022-09-13 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/phcfm.v14i1.3278 | |
| Source | African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine; Vol 14, No 1 (2022); 9 pages 2071-2936 2071-2928 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/3278/5623
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/3278/5624
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/3278/5625
https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/3278/5626
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