BackgroundGrowth 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.ObjectiveTo 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.DesignAnthropometric 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.ResultsOur 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.ConclusionThe 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.

Data Series: Proportion of adults who are obese, by sex Indicator: III.7 - Proportion of adults who are obese, by sex Source year: 2022 This dataset is part of the Minimum Gender Dataset compiled by the United Nations Statistics Division. Domain: Health and related services

SD: Standard Deviation; IOTF: International Obesity Task ForceC-25 and C-30 correspond to centiles that match BMI 25 and 30 kg/m2 at 18 years†WHO > 1 SD correspond to WHO > 85th‡WHO > 2 SD correspond to WHO > 97.7th*Overweight includes ‘obesity’**At risk of overweight includes ‘overweight’ and ‘obesity’Percentage of children classified as overweight (including obesity), obese and at risk of overweight.

Multivariate analysis of the association between BMI category and cardiotoxicity.

Percentage of children 4–5 yrs who consumed the right portion size before and after the use of “Nutripiatto”.