Abstract

DEL PINO, Mariana et al. Peso y estatura de una muestra nacional de 1.971 adolescentes de 10 a 19 años: las referencias argentinas continúan vigentes. Arch. argent. pediatr. [online]. 2005, vol.103, n.4, pp.323-330. ISSN 0325-0075.

Introduction. National standards for weight and height are being used in our country since 1987. The samples used for their construction were composed of children measured in the period 1970-1982. A secular trend in Argentina has been described for the periods 1938-1981 and 1969- 1975; hence, it is necessary to compare national standards with more recent samples. We have a data bank from the Argentine Pediatric Society, collected in the period 1998-2001 composed of 1971 healthy adolescents between 10 to 19,99 years attending to outpatient pediatric clinics and measured in a standardized way. The objective of the study was to evaluate differences in weight and height between this sample and the current national standards. Population, material and methods. Design retrospective, observational, cross-sectional study. Sample: the adolescents were randomly selected from those attending to outpatient clinics from the private or public sectors. Inclusion criteria included age 10-19 years, absence of any chronic diseases, eating disorders or growth problems. Fiftieth percentile of weight and height at each age, as well as instantaneous standard deviations (estimated by lineal regression) at each age, were calculated. Information on menarche age was obtained using the status quo method. Logistic regression was carried out to estimate median. Results. A greater mean height in favor of the sample was present at all ages. This trend was progressively decreasing from 13 years onward, and at age 18, the differences between the sample and the standard was 0.33 and 1.86 cm for girls and boys, respectively. In boys, median values for weight were greater than the standards at all ages; in girls, median weight were greater than the standards between 10-13 years, and similar to the standards from age 14 onwards. There was a high prevalence of overweighted children in the sample associated to tall stature. Median age of menarche was 12.45 years. Conclusions. The small differences found in the sample support the validity of the current standards for national wide use.

Keywords : Growth; Secular trend; Standards; Weight; Height; Menarche age.

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