Arpesella, Marisa

Grassi, Gian Piero

Turci, Michela C.

Viani, Marta

Firenze University Press: E-Journals

IJAE Vol. 115, n. 1/2 (Supplement), 2010
170
Growth in primary school children: a longitudinal 
study from 6 to 8 years of age
Michela C. Turci1, Marta Viani1,2, Marisa Arpesella3, Gian Piero Grassi1
1 Dipartimento di Morfologia Umana e Scienze Biomediche “Città Studi”, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università 
degli Studi di Milano, Italy
2 Centro di Ricerca Interdipartimentale delle Attività Motorie e Sportive, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Italy
3 Dipartimento di Medicina Preventiva Occupazionale e di Comunità, Sezione di Igiene, Università degli Studi di Pa-
via, Italy
School-based anthropometric observations represent a potential approach to address 
children and their families to correct life habits. 
On October 2007, weights and standing heights of 261 6yr-old primary school chil-
dren (116 girls; 145 boys) in Voghera (Pavia, Italy) were measured, and Body Mass In-
dices (BMI) calculated. Measurements were repeated 1 and 2 years later. Descriptive 
statistics of each parameter were computed within sex and session (Tab. 1). Compari-
sons were performed by ANOVA (F1, factor 1, sex; F2, factor 2, age; F1×F2 interaction). 
Statistical significance was set at 5% for all comparisons. Within age, the distributions 
and the percentages of boys and girls relatively under- (<3rd percentile), and overweight 
(>97th percentile) were computed (Tab. 1), while comparing BMI to reference data for 
Italian children (Cacciari et al., 2002). 
Girls Boys 
6 yr 7 yr 8 yr 6 yr 7 yr 8 yr
Weight (kg) 23.5±4.3 26.2±5.1 30.6±11.8 24.9±5.0 27.7±6.1 31.1±7.5
Height (cm) 120.2±6.1 124.6±6.2 129.8±11.8 121.1±6.0 125.7±6.1 131.8±6.2
BMI (kg/m2) 16.2±2.4 16.8±2.7 18.8±12.1 16.8±2.4 17.4±2.8 19.0±5.9
BMI <3rd 5 (4.3) 7 (6.0) 13 (11.2) 5 (3.4) 4 (2.8) 6 (4.1)
BMI >97th 2 (1.7) 3 (2.6) 7 (6.0) 10 (6.9) 10 (6.9) 8 (5.5)
Tab. 1. Descriptive statistics (mean±SD) of anthropometric variables at different ages. Distribu-
tions and (percentages) of boys and girls relatively under- and overweight.
On average, weight, height, and BMI were larger in boys than in girls, but the differ-
ences were not significant (F1, p>0.05). Boys and girls significantly grew with age (F2, 
p<0.001 for all comparisons). The effects of age on height increments were larger in boys 
than in girls (F1×F2 interaction, p=0.017). In boys, BMI was too high in a larger percent-
age than in girls. Conversely, the percentage distribution of participants whose BMI was 
too law was larger in girls than in boys, and increased with age. 
The study allowed the monitoring of growth in school children during a 3yr life 
span. Further investigations on this matter should be extended to different age groups 
of children and adolescents, and prolonged as much as possible.
Key words
BMI, children, growth


Growth in primary school children: a longitudinal study from 6 to 8 years of age

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Growth in primary school children: a longitudinal study from 6 to 8 years of age

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