AUXOLOGICAL NETWORK FOR AN EARLIER IDENTIFICATION OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT DISORDERS IN CHILDHOOD - A POPULATION-BASED MODEL

Keller.E.; Burmeister.J.¹; Gausche.R.; Hermanussen,M.¹; Kiess.W.

Children's Hospital, University of Leipzig, Leipzig; Norddeutsches Zentrum fur Wachstumsforschung; Kiel¹; Germany

INTRODUCTION: The growth and development of a child is a mirror of his living conditions and health. For decades pediatricians have been trying to achieve an earlier identification of children with growth disorders. The measures of prevention in Germany have not been successful so far. Diagnosis for example of GH-deficiency to ensure optimal substitution with growth hormone is usually not early enough.

METHODS: A screening system using an auxological data bank for growth disorders has been set up by us recently. Since 1998 we have collected height and weight measurements in relation to age from patients cared for by a large number of pediatricians in the region of Leipzig, Germany.

RESULTS: By September 1999, 30.000 children of different ages have been screened. The system identifies children with short stature below the 3. centile and tall stature above the 97. centile of the German Synthetic Normcurve (Hermanussen/Burmeister 1998). In 7.24 % of the children a growth disorder was identified (3.01 % above 97. and 3.76 % below 3. centile). Hospital-based data revelled a much larger number of children with growth disorders than practice-based data.

CONCLUSION: A sensitive screening system has been set up for the early detection of growth disorders. We generate a data pool for multiple questions in research of human growth. We will generate yearly reports for the development of new strategies in preventive medicine. Our next project will aim for the identification of obesity in early childhood.