Norwegian kids outgrow WHO scales
Norwegian children are taller now than 30 years ago. But Norwegian researchers trust more in local standards than the growth standards suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO).
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The Norwegian health care system may use the to track the growth progress of children up to the age of five years. However, the shows numbers that deviate from WHO standards when it comes to height, weight, and head circumference. On average Norwegian children are taller and bigger than the WHO Children Growth Standards.
鈥淭he WHO Children Growth Standards are a poor indicator of the growth of Norwegian children, especially when head circumference is measured,鈥� says Postdoctoral Fellow P茅tur Benedikt J煤l铆usson at the University of Bergen鈥檚 (UiB) Department of Clinical Science.
Along with Professor Robert Bjerknes, also of UiB鈥檚 Department of Clinical Science, J煤l铆usson is responsible for the Bergen Growth Study.
Genetic differences
When compared to the previous Norwegian growth scales of 30 years ago, the Bergen Growth Study shows that the average height of ethnic Norwegians has increased. The height of boys between ages 0 and 19 is up 3.4 centimetres on average, whereas girls between 0 and 19 have grown 2.5 centimetres.
J煤l铆usson believes a lot of this increased growth is down to improved nutrition and health. But genes play a not inconsiderable part, and may be as high 80 per cent according to the local researchers.
鈥淎verage height varies among different ethnic groups,鈥� says J煤l铆usson. 鈥淚n fact the difference can be up to 7 centimetres between populations that grow up in a good and healthy environment.鈥�
Local vs. global tools
According to J煤l铆usson there is currently a debate raging as to whether the WHO鈥檚 standard should be used to measure a child鈥檚 growth when there are local standards available that may be more suited to measure growth.
鈥淔or a more accurate evaluation of a child鈥檚 growth, one must use tools that show changes in growth based on the child鈥檚 ethnicity,鈥� he says.
He believes that health care professionals who use and interpret child growth standards need to be aware of the differences between local standards and those of the WHO.
The Bergen Growth Study was performed between 2003 and 2006 and is based on measurements of Norwegian children aged 0 to 19 years. In all 8,300 children were included in the study and additional data was polled from the Norwegian birth registry from 1999 to 2003. The results were published in the May/June issue of .
From height gain to weight gain
In the twentieth century, Norwegian increasingly grew taller until growth started levelling out around 1980. Instead the weight of the average Norwegian child and youth is now on the rise. The number of young people in the heaviest weight category has increased three-fold in the last 30 years.
鈥淚t looks as if ethnic Norwegians have exploited their genetic potential when it comes to height,鈥� J煤l铆usson says.
Regarding excess weight and obesity Norwegians are still doing well compared with their contemporaries in the United States or southern parts of Europe. In these countries the rate of obesity is twice what you find in Norway 鈥� 30 to 17 per cent amongst children aged 7 to 11.
鈥淥besity is not primarily connected with genes, but more a question of culinary traditions and socio-cultural issues,鈥� says P茅tur Benedikt J煤l铆usson.
(Translation: Sverre Ole Dr酶nen.)
