title: Establishing cross-sectional curves for height, weight, body mass index and waist circumference for 4- to 18-year-old Greek children, using the Lambda Mu and Sigma (LMS) statistical method.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We sought to establish cross-sectional curves for body weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference for 4- to 18-year-old Greek boys and girls, using the empirical distribution and the Lambda Mu and Sigma (LMS) statistical method.
  
  
  METHODS
  From March 2014 to May 2014, a total of 473,837 boys and girls aged 4 to 18 years who attended school in Greece were enrolled. The studied sample was representative, in terms of age-sex distribution and geographical region. Anthropometric indices measurements (i.e., height, weight and waist circumference) were performed and BMI was calculated and used to calculate normative values, using the percentiles of the empirical distributions and the LMS method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Updated growth references for 4- to 18-year-old Greek children tabulated as critical percentiles and LMS values from 3 to 97 (P3, P10, P25, P50, P75, P90, P97) and smoothed curves are presented. Positive secular trends of height, weight and waist circumference were observed in children and adolescents 4 to 18 years old (all p values <0.001). At all ages, boys had higher anthropometric measurements than girls (all p values <0.01). Compared to 1998 data, mean height and weight were greater in 2014 for boys and girls at all ages.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current national percentile curves for anthropometric indices could provide a more accurate estimation to assess physical growth in Greek children and adolescents. Hippokratia 2015; 19 (3): 239-248.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Tambalis
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Panagiotakos
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arnaoutis
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Psarra
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maraki
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mourtakos
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grigorakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece; Department of Internal Medicine, Sealy Center on Aging, Institute for Translational Sciences and Shriners Hospital for Children, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Sidossis
keywords: BMI; Body mass index; Greece; children; cutoff point