SECULAR TRENDS IN GROWTH AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN OF SHIRAZ (SOUTHERN IRAN) BORN IN THE POST-WAR PERIOD

 ABSTRACT Background: Secular trends in stature, weight and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) of 2397 school children (1268 boys and 1129 girls) of the same age (6.5-11.5 years) and sex in representative samples from primary schools of Shiraz (southern Iran) at an interval of 15 years (1988 vs 2003) are reported. Methods: Cross-sectional weight, height and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) curves were created for both sexes. One sample t-tests were utilized to analyze differences between average height, weight and MUAC of the 1988 and 2003 samples (the values of the previous study treated as constant). Results: Both samples included children of various socio-economic backgrounds for both males and females of each age-class. There are significant positive secular trends in stature, weight and MUAC of children born in the post-war period sampled in 2003. These children are generally taller, heavier, and larger than their peers of 15 years earlier born pre- and during the imposed war period of Iraq against Iran. The 2003 sample shows less growth deficits in relation to the CDC reference data. Conclusion: The positive trend can be explained as the result of economic development and improvement of social and health indicators in Iran in the post-war period.