Data_Sheet_1_Development of LMS and Z Score Growth References for Egyptian Children From Birth Up to 5 Years.PDF

Background: The Lambda-Mu-Sigma (LMS) and Z score methods are important for assessment of growth and nutritional status. In Egypt, there is a lack of this tool for monitoring growth in preschool children.
Objective: To develop LMS and Z score growth references for assessment of growth and nutritional status for Egyptian children from birth up to 5 years.
Methods: A total of 27,537 children [13,888 boys (50.4%) and 13,649 girls (49.6%)] from birth up to 5 years were included in a multistage cross sectional randomized study from different Egyptian geographic districts to create LMS and Z score references for weight, length/height, and body mass index corresponding to age in addition to weight for length/height. Healthy term infants and children, exclusive breast feeding for at least 4 months and not suffering from any chronic diseases were included in this study. Children with dysmorphic features, preterm infants, admitted in neonatal or pediatric intensive care units and having any chronic diseases (hematological, cardiac, hepatic, and renal) were excluded. In addition any health condition that affects child growth including nutritional disorders was also excluded. Un-paired t-test was calculated to compare the means of weight for age, length/height for age, weight for length/height, and BMI for-age z scores of the Egyptian and WHO reference values.
Results: Through detailed tables and graphs, LMS and Z scores for weight for age, length/height for age, weight for length/height, and BMI for age of both sexes were represented. Our findings showed no statistically significant difference between reference charts of WHO and Egyptian Z score charts (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: This study provides the first reference for Egyptian children from birth up to 5 years based on Z score tool for assessment the growth and nutritional status in various clinical conditions and research, also allows comparison with references of other countries.

研究背景：Lambda-Mu-Sigma（LMS）法与Z评分（Z score）法是评估生长发育与营养状况的重要工具。目前埃及尚缺乏适用于学龄前儿童生长监测的此类评估工具。
研究目的：构建适用于埃及0至5岁儿童的Lambda-Mu-Sigma（LMS）与Z评分生长参考标准，用于评估其生长发育与营养状况。
研究方法：本研究采用多阶段横断面随机设计，纳入埃及不同地理区域的27537名0至5岁儿童，其中男童13888名（占比50.4%），女童13649名（占比49.6%），用于构建年龄别体重、年龄别身长/身高、年龄别体质指数（Body Mass Index, BMI）以及身长/身高别体重对应的Lambda-Mu-Sigma（LMS）与Z评分参考标准。本研究纳入健康足月新生儿及儿童，要求至少接受4个月纯母乳喂养，且无任何慢性疾病史。排除标准包括：存在畸形特征者、早产儿、入住新生儿或儿科重症监护病房者，以及患有血液系统、心脏、肝脏、肾脏等慢性疾病者；此外，任何影响儿童生长发育的健康状况（包括营养紊乱）均被排除。采用非配对t检验，比较埃及人群与世界卫生组织（World Health Organization, WHO）参考标准的年龄别体重、年龄别身长/身高、身长/身高别体重及年龄别体质指数Z评分的均值差异。
研究结果：本研究通过详细表格与图表，展示了男女儿童各指标对应的Lambda-Mu-Sigma（LMS）参数与Z评分，包括年龄别体重、年龄别身长/身高、身长/身高别体重及年龄别体质指数。研究结果显示，埃及与WHO的Z评分参考图表之间无统计学显著性差异（P>0.05）。
研究结论：本研究首次构建了适用于埃及0至5岁儿童的Z评分生长参考标准，可用于各类临床场景与研究中的生长发育及营养状况评估，同时可与其他国家的参考标准进行对比分析。