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During the past three decades, growth charts have become one of the principal tools for monitoring anthropometric development in individuals and populations as well. The apparent overestimation and underestimation of many children's anthropometrics indicated the need to construct our own references. The objective of this study is to establish the national growth references for the Syrian population 2βyear-old.
A multicenter cross-sectional sample of 13, subjects, aged 2β20 years, were recruited from various kindergartens, schools, and universities across the Syrian Arab Republic between February and May Residuals diagnostic Q-tests and worm plots were used to check the validity of fitted models.
Residuals diagnostics revealed adequate models fitting. BMI cutoffs revealed an increased prevalence of obesity 4. Growth charts are available for use now in our hospitals and healthcare units. Somatic growth is the population-specific cumulative changes in height, weight, body mass index BMI , and head circumference according to genetics, environmental, nutritional, and hormonal factors. It nearly follows a predictable phasic pattern, allowing healthcare providers to conduct practical assessments of child development and early detection of many growth disorders by using smoothed centiles [ 1 , 2 ].
Since growth references are population-specific, several countries developed their charts and replicated them later to accommodate for the anthropometric changes in their populations over decades secular changes or trends [ 1 , 3 ]. To date, growth references by the World Health Organization WHO have been used in our hospitals and healthcare units to track the growth of children under five years of age, while references by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC have been widely used in assessing older children.
