Reference values of inside leg length and inside leg length to stature ratio for Japanese children, 0-12 years of age

• Published in: Annals of Human Biology Vol. 49; no. 1; pp. 1 - 9
• Main Authors: Inokuchi, Mikako, Matsuo, Nobutake, Takayama, John I., Hasegawa, Tomonobu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 02.01.2022; Informa UK Limited; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Adolescent; Biology (General); Body Height; Body proportion; Body Size; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; growth curves; Human anatomy; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Japan; Japanese Standards Association; Leg; LMS method; Male; nationally representative data; Physiology; QH301-705.5; QM1-695; QP1-981; Reference Values; Japanese Standards Association; Body proportion; nationally representative data; LMS method; growth curves
• ISSN: 0301-4460; 1464-5033; 1464-5033
• DOI: 10.1080/03014460.2022.2045355

Large datasets of detailed anthropometric measurements are scarce in children. The Japanese Standard Association 1978-1981 survey provides a rare opportunity to use high quality data from Japanese children. To construct inside leg length (ILL) and inside leg length to stature ratio (ILL/S) reference centile curves for Japanese children. The study sample consisted of 14,825 boys and 14,577 girls age 0-18 years for stature and weight measurements, and 9064 boys and 8796 girls age 0-12 years for ILL measurements, who participated in the 1978-1981 national survey on body sizes. LMS method was used to construct the reference centile curves. The reference centile curves for stature, weight, ILL, and ILL/S were compared to those of British children. The L, M, and S reference values for Japanese children are presented for stature, weight, ILL, and ILL/S. Compared with British children of 0-12 years of age, Japanese children of 0-12 years of age had shorter median stature, shorter median ILL, and shorter median ILL/S. We present the first reference values for ILL and ILL/S in Japanese children. Japanese children had relatively shorter legs compared to British children from infancy.