ABSTRACT
Background: The assessment of growth is crucial in child care and reference data are central to growth monitoring. As the pattern of growth of a population changes with time it is recommended that references be updated regularly. Objective: To produce contemporary growth curves for Indian children from 5-18 years for height, weight and BMI. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Multicentric, School based. Participants: 19834 children were measured from 10 affluent schools from five major geographical regions of India. Data were analyzed on 18666 children (10496 boys and 8170 girls) using the LMS method and smoothed percentiles 2007 were produced. Results: Compared to the 1989 data, median height at 18 years was 0.6 cm greater for boys but unchanged for girls, while the 97th height percentile had increased by 1.7 cm for boys and 2 cm for girls. Boys and girls were heavier and taller at almost all ages. The study also showed that boys and girls were taller at a younger age. Conclusions: Contemporary cross sectional reference percentile curves for height, weight and body mass index for the assessment of physical growth of present day Indian children are presented.