Title Do yesterday’s growth charts still reflect today’s children?
Authors Sakalauskaitė, Barbora ; Tutkuvienė, Janina
DOI 10.15388/EM.7.2026
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Is Part of Evoliucinė medicina: žmogaus raidos perspektyvos ir sveikata besikeičiančioje aplinkoje: septintoji tarptautinė konferencija, 2026 m. liepos mėn. 7-10 d., Vilniaus universitetas, Lietuva = Evolutionary medicine: perspectives on human development and health consequences in a changing environment: the 7th international conference, 7th-10th of July, 2026, Vilnius University, Lithuania.. Vilnius : Vilniaus universiteto leidykla. 2026, p. 90
Keywords [eng] auxology ; child growth ; growth assessment ; growth charts ; growth references
Abstract [eng] very day, healthcare professionals use growth charts to assess whether children are growing appropriately. The tool helps evaluate a child’s overall health and the need for further attention or intervention. However, the growth charts used today in Lithuania were created in 1995 and may not fully reflect contemporary growth patterns. Environmental, sociodemographic and health- related factors have changed, raising an important question: have growth patterns changed as well? Using a few relevant clinical examples, this Science Slam presentation illustrates the challenges of assessing a child’s growth. It takes us into the healthcare professionals’ everyday work and shows how growth assessment relies on growth charts. The presentation also highlights the importance of critically evaluating whether existing growth references remain representative of modern populations. Furthermore, the presentation introduces an ongoing PhD project that aims to determine whether the growth charts developed more than 30 years ago are still appropriate for the children seen today. As we assess children’s growth every day, perhaps it is time to assess the growth charts as well.
Published Vilnius : Vilniaus universiteto leidykla
Type Conference paper
Language English
Publication date 2026
CC license CC license description