For the first time since 1988, pediatric researchers have developed growth charts for children in the United States with Down sydrome.
The new charts will allow pediatricians to compare each patient's growth patterns with peers of the same age and sex who have Down syndrome.
"Growth is a good indicator of a child's health and well-being, so it's an essential part of the pediatric examination," said study leader Babette S. Zemel, Ph.D., director of the Nutrition and Growth Laboratory at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). "Children with Down syndrome grow differently from other children, so it is important to have growth charts that reflect their unique growth pattern."
Down syndrome, a multisystem genetic disorder resulting from an extra copy of chromosome 21, occurs in about one in 700 U.S. births. Doctors and parents have long known that children with Down syndrome tend to grow more slowly and are shorter than most other children.
The study project, the Down Syndrome Growing Up Study (DSGS), was funded by a four-year, $1.2 million grant to CHOP from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Children under age three in the study showed marked improvements in weight gain compared to the 1988 U.S. growth charts for children with Down syndrome. Improvements in height, reflecting taller stature, occurred mainly in males aged two to 20, relative to earlier charts.
Overall heatlh and well-being for patients with Down syndrome has improved over the past couple of decades; life expectancy has increased from 35 years in 1985 to 53 years in 2007.
