Growth charts for Indian boys (0-36 months) with down’s syndrome: a pilot study

Abstract

Background: Down’s syndrome is the most common genetic condition in the world today and India has one of the highest incidences of Down’s syndrome. It is associated with mental retardation and congenital malformations, especially of the heart. Growth retardation is commonly seen in children with Down’s syndrome. Early identification of a growth problem is important because timely interventions may positively affect the child’s general health and functional abilities as well as supporting growth. Till date no growth charts are available for the children with Down’s Syndrome India. The potential benefits of growth charts include: growth monitoring to detect any deviation in growth patterns, evaluating the efficacy measures aimed at promoting growth, providing reassurance to parents, evaluating the results of clinical research or intervention for individual patients and finally comparing with that of the normal population. Thus, the aim of this study was to create growth charts for Indian children with DS aged 0-36 months to investigate and characterize their size, monitor their growth.Methods: 60 male children between ages 1-36 months with DS were selected from four different pediatric clinics in India. The data used for creation of the growth charts were age at examination (years and months), height (cm), weight (kg), and head circumference (cm). The growth charts cover the time period from birth until 3 years of age. Each child contributed only one single set of data for each age group. The data represent and unselected, therefore presumably unbiased sample of children with DS in India.Results: On comparing the height, weight and head circumference of the normal vs Down’s Syndrome children it is noted that there is significant difference is noted between the Down’s Syndrome and Normal children.Conclusions: As per the outcome of the study it is recommended that there is a vast need of growth chart specific for Down’s Syndrome children which will help the doctor to analyze the height, weight and head circumference of the Down’s Syndrome children.