Trends in childhood height and BMI of children born 1969 – 2007 in Guatemala

Abstract

We analyzed height and BMI from birth through 36 mo of children born 1969–77 (n=1507), 1985–8 (n=211), 1996–9 (n=932), and 2002–7 (n=128) in 4 villages in Guatemala. Children born 1969–77 and 1996–9 were re‐measured in adolescence. We computed Z‐scores for height‐for‐age (HAZ) and BMI‐for‐age (BMIZ) using WHO 2005 (0–5y) and 2007 (5–19y) standards. Mean HAZ at 24 mo increased from −3.2 among children born 1969–77 to −1.1 among children born 2002–7 (p<0.001); HAZ at 24 mo of children born 1985–8 and 1996–9 were intermediate. Differences in HAZ were evident at birth and persisted through adolescence; children born 1969–77 had mean HAZ −2.0 at 12–19y; children born 1996–9 had mean HAZ −1.3 at 8–12y (p<0.001). BMIZ increased from birth to 24 mo in all groups except children born 2002–7. BMIZ of children born 1969–77 was 0.6 at 2y, −0.7 at 12y, and −0.3 at 19y. BMIZ of children born 1996–9 was 0.3 at 2y, 0.0 at 8y and 0.2 at 12y. BMIZ at 12y was 0.84 higher (p<0.001) for children born 1996–9 than for children born 1969–77. Secular increases in height result in part from increased intrauterine growth; increases in adolescent BMI suggest the potential for future increases in adult overweight and obesity.