Contemporary height, weight and body mass index references for children aged 0 to adulthood in Switzerland compared to the Prader reference, WHO and neighbouring countries^*

* Dedicated to Andrea Prader who would have celebrated his 100 birthday this year.

Abstract

Background: In 2011, WHO growth curves replaced those of Prader and colleagues (First Zurich longitudinal study) in Switzerland.

Aim: To present contemporary height-, weight- and body mass index (BMI)-for-age references reflecting children’s growth in modern Switzerland.

Subjects and methods: Cross-sectional sample comprising 30,141 boys and girls aged 0–20 years measured between 2012 and 2019. Height, weight and BMI reference curves were created using the LMS method. Derived percentiles were compared with those of Prader, WHO and neighbouring countries.

Results: Growth in the first 5 years is almost identical with Prader curves. Thereafter children are taller, yet their final height is only about 1 cm higher. Today’s children, in particular boys, are considerably heavier. In comparison with WHO growth references, Swiss children are taller from the second year until adulthood; the WHO 3rd percentiles lie about 4 cm below those of our updated references. Weight and BMI median percentiles from our sample are similar to those of WHO and higher than the Prader curves. However, the course of the 97th BMI percentile WHO curves extends well below the 97th percentile of the updated Swiss curves.

Conclusion: This study provides contemporary reference data for assessing individual growth based on height, weight and BMI of Swiss children.

Keywords:

• Growth references
• height
• weight
• BMI
• children
• percentile

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Acknowledgements

For the prospective data collection, we thank the following doctors: K. Altmann, D. Baiao Picciati, I. Baruffol, C. Baumgartner, M. Belvedere, Y. Bestmann, A. Bewer, M. Bischofsberger, S. Braunschweig, O. Bänziger, J. Cahlic, C. Clerc, S. Crameri, J. Crone, P. Cronin, F. D’Abbraccio, S. Dübendorfer, C. T. Eberhardt, M. Fust Aguilera, T. Gallmann, M. Girsberger, V. Griebel, L. Hochstrasser, A. Hugi Maier, K. Imahorn, B. Jäppinen, J. Kapassakis, R. Kehrt, S. Köppelmann, M. Landolt, A. Locher, M. Malosti, T. Marti, J. Meyer Menzi, C. Moran, T. Moser, T. Murer, J. Niederer-Pelzer, P. Orban, C. Peters, C. Pingoud, A. Rostetter, S. Rupp, S. Schadde, M. Schenker, P. Schibler, A. Schneider, S. Schönbeck, M. Stampf, R. Schöpke, R. Schramedei, H. Schütze, T. Schwank, C. Solèr-Bischof, S. Strunz, H. Ubieto, A. Vogt, S. Wegner, C. Wilhelm, O. Zerwetz, S. Züllig Naef. We also thank the following institutions: Allgemeine Berufsschule Zürich, Baugewerbliche Berufsschule Zürich, Berufsbildungsschule Winterthur, Berufsschule Aarau, Berufsschule für Detailhandel Zürich, Berufsschule für Mode und Gestaltung, Gymnasium Hohe Promenade, Gymnasium Unterstrass, Kantonsschule Freudenberg, Kantonsschule Oerlikon Nord, Kantonsschule Stadelhofen, Primarschule Fluntern, Primarschule Hasenbühl, Primarschule Richterswil, Primarschule Steiacher Brüttisellen, Realgymnasium Rämibühl, Schule Herzogenmühle, Schule Oescher Zollikon, Schulhaus Rüterwis Zollikerberg, Schule Triemli, Schule Zurlinden, Schulthess Klinik, Strickhof, Villa Kunterbunt Letzigraben, Zentrum für Ausbildung im Gesundheitswesen, Schulgesundheitsdienste der Stadt Zürich, Eidgenössisches Departement für Verteidigung, Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport (A. Stab, Sanität), Swiss National Cohort, Federal Statistical Office. Special thanks to Theo Gasser and Angelika Schaffrath Rosario for their methodological advice and Melissa Wilhelmi for proofreading our manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Data availability statement

Data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Notes

* Dedicated to Andrea Prader who would have celebrated his 100 birthday this year.

Additional information

Funding

Support for this research was provided by the Foundation Growth Puberty Adolescence.