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WHAT’S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Children with Divisions of aGastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, and cBehavioral Pediatrics, The Children’s Hospital of
Philadelphia, Philadelphia Pennsylvania; bDepartment of Pediatrics, The University of Pennsylvania Perelman
Down syndrome (DS) grow differently from other School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Divisions of dNutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, and
e
children. Advances in medical care, access to Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
care, and improved life expectancy suggest that Dr Zemel conceptualized and designed the study, analyzed the data, and drafted the initial
contemporary growth patterns may have manuscript; Dr Pipan participated in conceptualization and design of the study, participant
improved over recent decades for children with recruitment, and review of analyses and revised the manuscript; Dr Stallings participated in
conceptualization and design of the study and review of analyses and revised the manuscript;
DS in the United States. Ms Hall and Ms Kim Schadt participated in study design and implementation, participant recruitment,
WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: New growth charts are and data collection and revised the manuscript; Drs Freedman and Thorpe critically reviewed the
analyses and revised the manuscript; and all authors approved the final manuscript as submitted.
presented for length/height, weight, head
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily
circumference, and BMI for children with DS represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(birth to 20 y). Weight gain in children
www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2015-1652
,36 months, and stature for males are
DOI: 10.1542/peds.2015-1652
improved compared with older growth charts.
Accepted for publication Aug 19, 2015
Address correspondence to Babette S. Zemel, PhD, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and
Nutrition, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 3535 Market St, Room 1560, Philadelphia,
PA 19104-4399. E-mail: zemel@email.chop.edu
PEDIATRICS (ISSN Numbers: Print, 0031-4005; Online, 1098-4275).
Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics
DISCUSSION
This study describes the growth of
a convenience sample of
contemporary children with DS in
their usual state of health living in the
United States. The characteristic short
stature, small head circumference,
and normal to high relative weight
measures (weight-for-length and
BMI) associated with this genetic
syndrome are evident. These growth
charts are designed to be used as
screening tools to assess growth and
nutritional status and provide
indications of how the growth of an
individual child compares with peers
of the same age and sex with DS.
Marked improvements in weight
status for the first 36 months of life
are evident from comparisons with
previously published US reference
ranges. For children aged 2 to
FIGURE 1 20 years, the weight distribution is
Curve comparisons for weight in kilograms and length in centimeters for male and female subjects,
approximately similar to those
birth to 36 months of age. Contemporary curves from the DSGS (solid line) are compared with those
from the US 1988 curves from Cronk et al (dotted line) and the UK 2002 curves from Styles et al published more than 25 years ago,
(dashed line). with 2 exceptions: the 95th percentile
Mean 6 SD No. Obs n Mean 6 SD No. Obs n Mean 6 SD No. Obs n Mean 6 SD No. Obs n
Wt 20.10 6 0.93 1093 457 0.63 6 1.07*** 154 70 0.25 6 0.98** 138 58 20.07 6 0.94 94 36
Length/height 20.08 6 0.97 1090 457 0.49 6 0.94*** 154 70 0.07 6 1.13 137 58 0.14 6 0.98 94 36
BMIb 20.07 6 0.99 753 389 0.68 6 1.06*** 93 54 0.32 6 0.83* 79 43 0.03 6 1.02 55 28
Head circumferencec 0.10 6 0.99 364 106 20.25 6 1.06 68 25 20.07 6 1.06 65 22 20.20 6 0.72 40 12
Weight for lengthc 20.04 6 0.97 366 106 0.23 6 1.24 68 25 0.42 6 0.88* 63 21 20.50 6 0.93 40 12
All outcomes are expressed as age and sex-specific DSGS z scores. No. Obs: number of observations.
a Other includes Asian, Native American, and mixed race. Significantly different from Non-Hispanic White group: ***P , .001; **P , .01; *P , .05.
b Age .2 y.
c Age ,3 y.
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