Appropriateness of using prevalent national standards for assessment of growth parameters in children from Uttarakhand

BACKGROUND: With distinct geographical and demographic conditions prevalent in the regions of Himalayan foothills, it seems questionable to assess the children from these areas using the standards based upon growth pattern of children from major central cities of the country. To answer this question, we compared the growth parameters of apparently healthy children, attending our out-patient clinic, with corresponding median values for age from national reference data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The growth parameters of apparently healthy children were compared with the expected value for age that is, median value for the corresponding age from the recommended national reference data (Agarwal et al). RESULTS: Data from 205 boys and 200 girls, aged 5–18 years, were finally evaluated. The considerable difference was observed between growth parameters. Children from Uttarakhand were observed to be lighter, especially in older age groups and taller, especially in younger age groups, when compared with corresponding median values from reference data. CONCLUSION: It appears inappropriate to interpret the growth parameters of the children of this region in the background of index national reference.