Parental Education, Children’s Nutritional Status and Non-verbal Intelligence in Rural School-children

Objective: To assess non-verbal intelligence and its relationship with nutritional status,nutrient intakes and parents’ education in school-children. Methods: A cross-sectional,observational study was conducted in children between 6-11 years, without any knownchronic disorder or intellectual disability. Data were collected regarding parents’ education,anthropometry and dietary intakes. Non-verbal intelligence was assessed by Raven’sColoured Progressive Matrices (RCPM). Results: In 323 enrolled children (52.9% boys), asignificant positive association was observed between RCPM scores and parents’ education(father’s rs=0.14, mother’s rs=0.22), height Z-scores (rs=0.14) and dietary intakes of zinc(rs=0.14), iron (rs=0.12) and folate (rs=0.14). Conclusion: Height in normal range, higherzinc, iron and folate intakes, and parental higher educational levels were associated withhigher non-verbal intelligence scores

Height Velocity Percentiles in Indian Children Aged 5-17 Years

Objective: To assess height velocity and develop height velocitypercentiles in 5-17-year-old Indian children; and to study themagnitude and age at peak height velocity.Design: Mixed longitudinal study.Setting: Private schools at Pune and Delhi.Participants/patients: 2949 children (1681 boys) belonging toaffluent class aged 5-17 years (1473-Pune, 1476-Delhi).Methods: Annual height and weight measurements from 2007 to2013. Total 13214 height velocity measurements (7724 on boys).Outcome Measures: Height velocity percentiles (3rd, 10th, 25th,50th, 75th, 90th and 97th) constructed using LMS chart maker.Results: Age- and gender-specific height velocity percentileswere generated. Median height velocity in girls decreased from 5to 8 years, increased to a peak of 6.6 cm at 10.5 years and thendeclined to 0.3 cm at 17.5 years. In boys, median height velocityreduced till 10.5, increased to a peak of 6.8 cms at 13.5 years andthen declined to 1cm by 18 years.Conclusions: Height velocity percentiles in 5-17-year-old urbanIndian children were constructed

Reference Centile Curves for Triceps Skinfold Thickness for Indian Children aged 5–17 years and Cut-offs for Predicting Risk of Childhood Hypertension: A Multi-Centric Study.

Objective: To create age- and gender-specific Triceps Skinfold Thickness percentile curves for Indian children; and to determine cut-offs for predicting the risk of childhood hypertension. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Multicentric, school-based, 5 major Indian cities Participants: 13375 children (7590 boys) aged 5-17 years Procedure: Data on height, weight, blood pressure, triceps skinfold thickness (using Harpenden Skinfold caliper) were collected. Reference triceps skinfold thickness percentile curves were derived for boys and girls by LMS (lambda-mu-sigma) method. Receiver operating curve analyses were performed to determine the optimal cut-off of triceps skinfold thickness centile for predicting the risk of hypertension. Results: Percentile curves for boys plateau around 13 years whereas for girls the curves increase steadily till the age of 17 years. Median triceps skinfold thickness increased by 7% to 9% till the age of 9 years in boys and girls. After 12 years, median triceps skinfold thickness decreased by 1% to 2% in boys but increased by 3% to 4% in girls. The optimal cut-off percentile yielding maximal sensitivity (68%) and specificity (74-78%) for predicting high blood pressure was the 70th triceps skinfold thickness percentile in both genders. Conclusions: Percentile curves for triceps skinfold thickness developed in the present study would be useful in the assessment of adiposity and the risk of hypertension in Indian children.