Growth trends in boys and girls (10–17 years-old) from autonomous region of Madeira, Portugal between 1996–1998 and 2007–2009

Abstract

Background: Growth trends have never been studied in adolescents of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Portugal.Aims: To analyse growth trends in weight, height, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and triceps skin-fold thickness (TST) of adolescents (10–17 years old) of the Autonomous Region of Madeira between 1996–1998 and 2007–2009.Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out between 2007–2009, including 4314 adolescents, 2237 girls and 2077 boys (10–17 years old). To study secular growth trends, data were compared with a sample from 1996–1998, comparing the means for each anthropometric variable by age and sex using the independent-sample t-test.Results: An average increase was found in weight of 5.8 kg in boys and 6.3 kg in girls; in height of 3.0 cm in boys and 3.7 cm in girls; in BMI of 1.5 kg/m2 in boys and 1.7 kg/m2 in girls; in WC a difference of 5.6 cm and 4.9 cm for boys and girls, respectively, and for MUAC a difference of 2.7 cm in boys and 2.0 cm in girls. No differences were found in TST in boys, but in girls an increase of 1.2 mm was observed.Conclusions: A general increase in anthropometric measurements, more marked in weight, BMI, WC and MUAC and at younger ages, was observed.