Child Growth Curves in High-Altitude Ladakh: Results from a Cohort Study

Wen-Chien Yang, Chun-Min Fu, Bo-Wei Su, Chung-Mei Ouyang and Kuen-Cheh Yang
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Wen-Chien Yang: Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu 30059, Taiwan
Chun-Min Fu: Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu 30059, Taiwan
Bo-Wei Su: Department of Family Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 100225, Taiwan
Chung-Mei Ouyang: Department of Dietetics, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu 30059, Taiwan
Kuen-Cheh Yang: Department of Family Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital Bei-Hu Branch, Taipei 108206, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-11

Abstract: High prevalence of child underweight and stunting in high-altitude areas has often been reported. However, most previous studies on this topic were cross-sectional. Another critical concern is that using the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards to evaluate child growth in high-altitude areas may lead to overestimations of underweight and stunting. Our study aimed to evaluate the long-term growth pattern of children (3 to 18 years) above the altitude of 3500 m in Ladakh, India. The participants’ body weight (BW), body height (BH), and body mass index (BMI) were measured annually according to the WHO Child Growth Standards for children under 5 years old and the WHO reference data for children aged 5 to 19 years. The generalized estimating equation (GEE) was used to estimate the means and z -scores of BW, BH, and BMI at different ages. A total of 401 children were enrolled from 2012 to 2018. Their mean z -scores of BW, BH, and BMI were −1.47, −1.44, and −0.85 in 2012 and increased to −0.74, −0.92, and −0.63 in 2018. This population’s specific growth curve was also depicted, which generally fell below the 85th percentile of the WHO standards. This is the first cohort study about long-term child growth patterns in a high-altitude area. The detailed underlying mechanisms of our findings need future research on more representative data of high-altitude populations.

Keywords: child growth; growth curve; high altitude; body weight; body height (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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