Growth references for Brazilian children and adolescents: healthy growth in Cariri study.

Aim: To construct reference values for height, body mass and BMI of children and adolescents from the Cariri region, Brazil; to compare the growth of Cariri children with those from CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and with references from other Brazilian regions; to verify the associations between socioeconomic status and height, body mass and BMI in children and youth from both sexes.

Subjects And Methods: The sample comprised 3311 girls and 3280 boys aged 7-17 years, participating in the study 'Healthy Growth in Cariri'. Socioeconomic status was defined according to school attendance: private and public. Centile curves for height, body mass and BMI were constructed using the LMS method.

Results: Significant differences between children and adolescents from Cariri and those from other Brazilian regions and the CDC references were found for height and body mass. In girls from private schools, average differences in height compared to the CDC references ranged from 0.79-5.9 cm and in boys from 2.9-8.6 cm.

Conclusion: Children from Cariri show a growth pattern in height, body mass and BMI that closely resembles the patterns observed in developed countries, but the absolute values in height and body mass are markedly lower than CDC references and growth references for other regions in Brazil.