Data from: Should the WHO growth charts be used in France?

Background: Growth charts are an essential clinical tool for evaluating a
child's health and development. The current French reference curves,
published in 1979, have recently been challenged by the 2006 World Health
Organization (WHO) growth charts. Objective: To evaluate and compare the
growth of French children who were born between 1981 and 2007, with the
WHO growth charts and the French reference curves currently used. Design:
Anthropometric measurements from French children, who participated in 12
studies, were analyzed: 82,151 measurements were available for 27,257
children in different age groups, from birth to 18 years. We calculated
and graphically compared mean z-scores based on the WHO and French curves,
for height, weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) according to age and sex. The
prevalence of overweight using the WHO, the French and International
Obesity Task Force definitions were compared. Results: Our population of
children was on average 0.5 standard deviations taller than the French
reference population, from the first month of life until puberty age. Mean
z-scores for height, weight and BMI were closer to zero based on the WHO
growth charts than on the French references from infancy until late
adolescence, except during the first six months. These differences not
related to breastfeeding rates. As expected, the prevalence of overweight
depended on the reference used, and differences varied according to age.
Conclusion: The WHO growth charts may be appropriate for monitoring growth
of French children, as the growth patterns in our large population of
French children were closer to the WHO growth charts than to the French
reference curves, from 6 months onwards. However, there were some
limitations in the use of these WHO growth charts, and further
investigation is needed.