title: Head Circumference Charts for Turkish Children Aged Five to Eighteen Years.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Most head circumference growth references are useful during the first years of life, but they are also useful for older children when screening for developmental, neurological, and genetic disorders. We aimed to develop head circumference growth reference charts for age, height, and waist circumference for Turkish children aged 5-18 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Head circumference, height, and waist circumference measurements were obtained from 5079 students aged 5-18 years from İzmit, Kocaeli Province, Turkey. The LMS method was used to construct reference centile curves.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Head circumference measurements were strongly correlated with height (r=0.74), weight (r=0.76), and waist circumference (r=0.68). The mean head circumference values for boys were larger than those for girls at all ages. Compared with data from the United States, the World Health Organization, and other studies from Turkey, our data showed a decrease in head circumference at all ages for both sexes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Local growth charts can be used to evaluate head circumference growth in older Turkish children and adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Kocaeli University School of Medicine, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bülent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kara
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Kocaeli University School of Medicine, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nilay
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Etiler
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Kocaeli University School of Medicine, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayşen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aydoğan Uncuoğlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Kocaeli University School of Medicine, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hülya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maraş Genç
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Genetics, Kocaeli University School of Medicine, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Esen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ulak Gümüşlü
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Pediatrics, İstanbul University İstanbul School of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gülbin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gökçay
authors.affiliation: Boğaziçi University Institute of Social Sciences, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Andrezej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Furman
keywords: Head circumference; LMS method; growth curves; height; waist circumference