The Weight and Height Percentiles in 6−18 Year Old Children in Kayseri and Comparison with Istanbul Data

BACKGROUND One of the mostly used and preferred method in following the growth of children is to plot weight and height values of the children on standard percentile charts. It is essential for each country to use its own populations' updated percentile curves. However, data on the growth of children living in different regions are also needed for comparison with the national standards. METHODS This study was conducted in Kayseri with a trained team in order to obtain anthropometrical measurements in children and adolescents. Weight and height measurements from 5727 (2785 boys, 2942 girls) healthy school children (aged between 6 to 18 years) from all socioeconomic levels were randomly selected. Smoothed percentile curves were produced by LMS method. RESULTS Smoothed percentile curves including the percentile values for 3rd, 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 85th, 90th, 95th and 97th and standard deviation scores were calculated for boys and girls. The 3rd, 50th and 97th centiles of weight and height of these children were compared with the respective values of the established national standards obtained from Istanbul children. CONCLUSIONS This study presents data and smoothed percentile curves for weight and height measurement of healthy central Anatolia children aged 6 to 18 years. Nationwide studies are needed to bring out the regional differences in our country.