title: Growth trends in boys and girls (10-17 years-old) from autonomous region of Madeira, Portugal between 1996-1998 and 2007-2009.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Growth trends have never been studied in adolescents of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Portugal.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To analyse growth trends in weight, height, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and triceps skin-fold thickness (TST) of adolescents (10-17 years old) of the Autonomous Region of Madeira between 1996-1998 and 2007-2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was carried out between 2007-2009, including 4314 adolescents, 2237 girls and 2077 boys (10-17 years old). To study secular growth trends, data were compared with a sample from 1996-1998, comparing the means for each anthropometric variable by age and sex using the independent-sample t-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An average increase was found in weight of 5.8 kg in boys and 6.3 kg in girls; in height of 3.0 cm in boys and 3.7 cm in girls; in BMI of 1.5 kg/m(2) in boys and 1.7 kg/m(2) in girls; in WC a difference of 5.6 cm and 4.9 cm for boys and girls, respectively, and for MUAC a difference of 2.7 cm in boys and 2.0 cm in girls. No differences were found in TST in boys, but in girls an increase of 1.2 mm was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A general increase in anthropometric measurements, more marked in weight, BMI, WC and MUAC and at younger ages, was observed.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, Porto, Portugal. bruno.sousa@mail.com
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: B M P M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: M D V
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: de Almeida
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry; D001823:Body Composition; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011174:Portugal