Hawkes CP, Mostoufi-Moab S, McCormack SE, Grimberg A, Zemel BS. Sitting Height to Standing Height Ratio Reference Charts for Children in the United States.
J Pediatr 2020;
226:221-227.e15. [PMID:
32579888 PMCID:
PMC9030919 DOI:
10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.06.051]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To create reference charts for sitting height to standing height ratio (SitHt/Ht) for children in the US, and to describe the trajectory of SitHt/Ht during puberty.
STUDY DESIGN
This was a cross-sectional study using data from the 1988-1994 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III, a strategic random sample of the US population. Comparison between non-Hispanic White (NHW), non-Hispanic Black (NHB) and Mexican American groups was performed by ANOVA to determine if a single population reference chart could be used. ANOVA was used to compare SitHt/Ht in pre-, early, and late puberty.
RESULTS
NHANES III recorded sitting height and standing height measurements in 9569 children aged 2-18 years of NHW (n = 2715), NHB (n = 3336), and Mexican American (n = 3518) ancestry. NHB children had lower SitHt/Ht than NHW and Mexican American children throughout childhood (P < .001). In both sexes, the SitHt/Ht decreased from prepuberty to early puberty and increased in late puberty. Sex-specific percentile charts of SitHt/Ht vs age were generated for NHB and for NHW and Mexican American youth combined.
CONCLUSIONS
SitHt/Ht assessment can detect disproportionate short stature in children with skeletal dysplasia, but age-, sex-, and population-specific reference charts are required to interpret this measurement. NHB children in the US have significantly lower SitHt/Ht than other children, which adds complexity to interpretation. We recommend the use of standardized ancestry-specific reference charts in screening for skeletal dysplasias and have developed such charts in this study.
Collapse