Weight-for-age and weight-for-height references for Hong Kong children from birth to 18 years

Objective: Childhood obesity is an emerging problem in Asia. Sequential monitoring of the growth of an individual can detect a change in body fatness, provided there are ethnically appropriate growth references. Methodology: A territory wide cross-sectional growth survey of Hong Kong on 24 709 individuals from the age of newborn to 18 years was performed in 1993. Weight-for-age and weight-for-height percentile charts were prepared separately for boys and girls. Results: There was an average increase of 8.5 kg and 5.1 kg in the 18 year old boys and girls, respectively, compared to those surveyed 30 years ago. The percentile curves between 6 and 18 years were similar to those of Singapore. Weight-for-height percentile curves were close to those of America in the prepubertal years. Conclusions: These Hong Kong growth standards for weight-for-age and weight-for-height are important tools for the assessment of nutritional status of an individual and for monitoring changes in nutritional status of the population.