title: Length and height percentiles for children in the South-East Asian Nutrition Surveys (SEANUTS).
abstract: Health and nutritional information for many countries in the South-East Asian region is either lacking or no longer up to date. The present study aimed to calculate length/height percentile values for the South-East Asian Nutrition Survey (SEANUTS) populations aged 0·5-12 years, examine the appropriateness of pooling SEANUTS data for calculating common length/height percentile values for all SEANUTS countries and whether these values differ from the WHO growth references.
  
  
  
  Data on length/height-for-age percentile values were collected. The LMS method was used for calculating smoothened percentile values. Standardized site effects (SSE) were used for identifying large or unacceptable differences (i.e. $\mid\! \rm SSE \!\mid$ >0·5) between the pooled SEANUTS sample (including all countries) and the remaining pooled SEANUTS samples (including three countries) after weighting sample sizes and excluding one single country each time, as well as with WHO growth references.
  
  
  
  Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
  
  
  
  Data from 14202 eligible children were used.
  
  
  
  From pair-wise comparisons of percentile values between the pooled SEANUTS sample and the remaining pooled SEANUTS samples, the vast majority of differences were acceptable (i.e. $\mid\! \rm SSE \!\mid$ ≤0·5). In contrast, pair-wise comparisons of percentile values between the pooled SEANUTS sample and WHO revealed large differences.
  
  
  
  The current study calculated length/height percentile values for South East Asian children aged 0·5-12 years and supported the appropriateness of using pooled SEANUTS length/height percentile values for assessing children's growth instead of country-specific ones. Pooled SEANUTS percentile values were found to differ from the WHO growth references and therefore this should be kept in mind when using WHO growth curves to assess length/height in these populations.
authors.affiliation: 1Institute of Nutrition,Mahidol University,Nakhon Pathom 73170,Thailand.
authors.forename: Nipa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rojroongwasinkul
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Occupational and School Nutrition,National Institute of Nutrition (NIN),Hanoi,Vietnam.
authors.forename: Khanh Le Nguyen
authors.initials: Kle N
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.affiliation: 3Persatuan Ahli Gizi Indonesia,Jakarta,Indonesia.
authors.forename: Sandjaja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sandjaja
authors.affiliation: 4Nutritional Sciences Programme,School of Healthcare Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences,Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia.
authors.forename: Bee Koon
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Poh
authors.affiliation: 1Institute of Nutrition,Mahidol University,Nakhon Pathom 73170,Thailand.
authors.forename: Atitada
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boonpraderm
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Occupational and School Nutrition,National Institute of Nutrition (NIN),Hanoi,Vietnam.
authors.forename: Chinh Nguyen
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Huu
authors.affiliation: 3Persatuan Ahli Gizi Indonesia,Jakarta,Indonesia.
authors.forename: Moesijanti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soekatri
authors.affiliation: 4Nutritional Sciences Programme,School of Healthcare Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences,Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia.
authors.forename: Jyh Eiin
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: 5Nutrition Consultant,Telaga Harbour Marina,Langkawi,Malaysia.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Deurenberg
authors.affiliation: 6Department of Nutrition and Dietetics,Harokopio University,Athens,Greece.
authors.forename: Yannis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Manios
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D057238:Growth Charts; D006801:Humans; D007214:Indonesia; D007223:Infant; D008296:Malaysia; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D012016:Reference Values; D013785:Thailand; D014744:Vietnam
keywords: Children; Length/height; Nutrition; Percentiles; SEANUTS; Survey