Cm. Wright et al., SEX-DIFFERENCES IN WEIGHT IN INFANCY AND THE BRITISH 1990 NATIONAL GROWTH STANDARDS, BMJ. British medical journal, 313(7056), 1996, pp. 513-514
Objectives-To determine if there is a sex difference in infancy in the
new British national standards for weight (based on data from 1990).
Design-Weight data in a birth cohort were compared with the 1990 stand
ards and Tanner and Whitehouse (1966) standards up to age 12 months. S
etting-Newcastle upon Tyne. Subjects-3418 term infants. Results-Our co
hort showed a mean difference in standard deviation scores of 0.42 bet
ween boys and girls (P<0.0001) when compared with the 1990 standards.
Two and a half times as many girls as boys had weights below the 3rd c
entile during the first year, with an equivalent excess of boys above
the 97th centile (P<0.0001). Similar results were found with Tanner an
d Whitehouse standards. Conclusions-These differences could result in
substantial sex bias in the identification of poor growth in early chi
ldhood. The standards need modification.