Revised growth curves account for increased size, faster growth of today’s children
New size norms based on averages for Espoo children
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Tens of thousands of children from Espoo have been used to set a new standard for national growth curves.
They show that children today are larger at birth, and they grow faster than their parents did. Their heads are also bigger.
“Because of the obsolete curves, children who are normal have been defined as oversized. Many have been sent unnecessarily to be tested”, says Leo Dunkel, Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Eastern Finland.
one reason for faster growth is the increase in breastfeeding. “How babies are fed influences the rest of their lives. Nowadays children get more energy from their food and they use it mainly for growth”, Dunkel says.
Municipalities can decide when to adopt the new growth curves, which will be available this year.
One example of today’s growth trends is the Pitkänen family, in which the mother, who is 179 centimetres tall, and the father, who is 187 centimetres, have three growing daughters.
“I’m average size”, says Riikka Pitkänen, who is jumping on the sofa.
This is not the actually case. She was sent to Jorvi Hospital in Espoo for further studies after being found to be bigger than normal based on the old growth curves.
She is, in fact, fairly tall for a six-year-old - 135 centimetres.
Her mother, Kaisa Pitkänen, was not particularly alarmed. “Perhaps I would have been worried if she had been really short.”
Her other daughter Reeta has also been checked because of her height. Nothing abnormal was found in either one.
“Reeta is nine years old and 155 centimetres tall. I have some adult friends who are the size of my daughter”, Kaisa Pitkänen says.
The new growth curves indicate faster growth among teenagers.
For instance, 14-year-old boys are an average five cm. taller than they were before. With girls, the greatest difference compared with the past is among 12-year-olds, whose average height is three cm. more than the old figures.
“The puberty growth spurt comes earlier than before. Why this is, we do not know. The average height of adults has nevertheless changed by only two centimetres”, Dunkel says.
the average height of Finnish men is 181 cm. and for women its is 167.5.
The average weight of children under ten has declined slightly. On the other hand, the heaviest are heavier than before.
“Weight curves have previously been without scientific basis. In the future, children’s weight will be tracked with the help of a weight index”, Dunkel says.
Espoo was seen as a good standard for the new curves, because it can be seen as a kind of Finland in miniature.
“The population of Espoo has increased tenfold in the past 50 years. People have moved there from all over Finland. Espoo was also willing to join in”, Dunkel says.
“Espoo has more residents with a foreign background than other places do, but that is a good thing. Their proportion is growing in other cities as well.”
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 11.3.2010 - TODAY |
 Revised growth curves account for increased size, faster growth of today’s children |
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