Growth Charts for Children With Down Syndrome: 1 Month to 18 Years of Age

TLDR

The authors developed centile charts for stature and weight in children with Down syndrome, using 4,650 observations from 730 children and smoothing the data with a flexible mathematical function. The charts confirm that children with Down syndrome exhibit a persistently reduced growth rate—especially in infancy and adolescence—are generally taller than institutionalized peers, but those with moderate or severe congenital heart disease are shorter and lighter, and many become overweight from late infancy onward.

Abstract

Centile charts for assessment of stature and weight reflecting expected deficient size and growth rate of home-reared children with Down syndrome are presented for two age intervals, 1 to 36 months and 2 to 18 years, based on 4650 observations on 730 children. Data were pooled and used to estimate five centiles which were smoothed using a flexible mathematical function. These data corroborate other studies of growth in children with Down syndrome demonstrating deficient growth rate throughout the growing period, but most marked in infancy and again at adolescence. Children with Down syndrome in the present sample were taller than those from institutionalized samples at all ages throughout the growing period. Children with moderate or severe congenital heart disease on average were 1.5 to 2.0 cm shorter and about 1 kg lighter than those without or with only mild disease. Mean weight and weight divided by stature squared show that children with Down syndrome have a tendency to be overweight beginning in late infancy and throughout the remainder of the growing years.