GROWTH OF HMONG CHILDREN

Objective: To investigate the growth of a group of young Hmong childre n. Design: Tn this descriptive, comparative study, length and weight m easures of Hmong children were abstracted from medical charts for each previous clinic visit (newborn to most recent visit) where both measu res had been recorded, and measures were compared with National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) standard percentiles. Visits occurred fr om 1988 to 1994. Participants and Setting: Participants were 579 Hmong children, ages 0 to 5 years, who were active patients at a family pra ctice residency clinic. Main Outcome Measures: Length and weight. Resu lts: This group of Hmong children showed lengths similar to those of t he NCHS reference population for the first 6 to 12 months of life, aft er which they lagged behind reference lengths. By the 24th month, medi an length for Hmong girls and boys was less than the NCHS 25th percent ile. The Hmong children's average weight was slightly higher than the NCHS median until about 8 months of age, after which the distributions were similar. Conclusions: Compared with children who comprise the NC HS reference population, the Hmong children in this study were slightl y heavier in the first several months of life, and shorter thereafter. Therefore, in general, the Hmong children were proportionately heavie r than other children of similar height.