Growth from birth to age 19 for children in Sweden born in 1981: Descriptive values

Aim: To describe Swedish children's growth (i.e. height, weight and body mass index) from birth to age 19 y. Methods: Every infant born on the 15th of any month in 1981 and living in Sweden as of 31 December 1989 was sampled. Longitudinal data were collected from childhood and school health records, and analysis by piecewise linear regression gave statistical descriptions of height, weight and body mass index for every age group. Results: The data include measurements of 3107 of 3158 sampled children; 1.6% of individuals are missing, so non-response bias is minimal. Thus, statistical descriptions and comparisons with similar data sets can be based on data with unusually high national representativeness. Selected subgroups (i.e. individuals born outside Sweden, suffering from chronic disease causing major growth impairment, or with birthweight < 2500 g) deviate in growth pattern, and exclusion of these subgroups increases means and decreases SD for height but only slightly influences summary statistics for weight and body mass index. Conclusion: This study represents, without selection bias, the current growth situation among children and adolescents in Sweden, enabling both epidemiological comparisons over time and comparisons with other national surveys.