Evaluación de la estatura como indicador nutricional poblacional / Assessment of height as nutritional population index

ABSTRACT

Material and Methods: Height, weight, sexual maturation biacromial and bi-iliac diameters of low and from French, English and North American children in the same age range. Results: Chilean girls had an earlier sexual maturation, had bigger biacromial and bi-iliac diameters and had a higher weight for height than European girls. Weight for height of these girls was over the values propesed by the Chilean Ministry of Health, that are based in NCHS/WHO tables. Chilean girls with recent European ancestry were taller than girls without this ancestry. Chilean boys were smaller and had lower weights than their foreign counterparts. Bi-iliac diameters were similar to those of French boys and sexual maturation was similar to Englis boys. Conclusions: These results indicate that genetics and not undernutrition is inolved in the shorter height of Chilean girls, when compared with their European or North American counterparts