Clinical growth standards for Irish children.

A cross-sectional study, measuring height and weight, was performed on a representative sample of 3,509 Irish children aged from 5 to 19 years inclusive. Comparison with other countries showed a significantly later pubertal growth spurt than either the U.K. or the U.S. However, the final adult height and weight are similar to other countries as in the weight-for-height of children aged 5 to 9 years. The urban children are taller than the rural and the higher socio-economic groups are taller than the lower at all ages, but all achieved the same final adult height. Longitudinal tempo-conditional growth standards were constructed based on the Irish cross-sectional and menarche data together with all the available information from longitudinal studies. These charts are similar to those of the U.K., but the use of colours allows more information to be put on the charts, thus making them more suitable for clinical use.