Dataset Information

Head circumference from birth to five years in France: New national reference charts and comparison to WHO standards.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The monitoring of head circumference (HC) is essential to early detect any conditions affecting its growth in early childhood. A positive secular trend and regional specificities in HC suggested the need to provide updated national HC reference growth charts.

Methods

We extracted all growth data collected from 42 primary-care physicians from across the French metropolitan territory who used the same electronic medical-records software. We selected HC measurements up to age five years for all children who were born after 1990 with birth weight > 2500 g. We derived new HC growth charts by using Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape, then externally validated them until 30 months of age by comparison with the national population-based Étude Longitudinale Française depuis l'Enfance (ELFE) birth cohort and compared them to previous French and WHO growth charts.

Findings

With 973,869 HC measurements from 157,762 children, new calibrated HC growth charts from birth to age five years were generated. The new HC growth charts showed good external fit by comparison with the ELFE birth cohort. As compared with the new HC growth charts, the previous French and WHO growth charts mean HC z-scores were, respectively, -0.4 and -0.6 SD for girls and -0.2 and -0.6 SD for boys.

Interpretation

We produced and validated national calibrated HC growth charts by using a novel big-data approach applied to data routinely collected in clinical practice. Comparison with previous French and WHO growth charts confirmed a positive secular trend since the 1960s and regional specificities.

Funding

The French Ministry of Health; Laboratoires Guigoz-General Pediatrics section of the French Society of Pediatrics-Paediatric Epidemiological Research Group; the French Association of Ambulatory Pediatrics; and educational grant from the Regional Health Agency of Ile-de-France.

SUBMITTER: Bergerat M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8454714 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundIncense burning for rituals or religious purposes is an important tradition in many countries. However, incense smoke contains particulate matter and gas products such as carbon monoxide, sulfur, and nitrogen dioxide, which are potentially harmful to health.ObjectivesWe analyzed the relationship between prenatal incense burning and birth weight and head circumference at birth using the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study. We also analyzed whether the associations varied by sex and along the distribution of birth outcomes.MethodsWe performed ordinary least squares (OLS) and quantile regressions analysis on a sample of 15,773 term births (> 37 gestational weeks; 8,216 boys and 7,557 girls) in Taiwan in 2005. The associations were estimated separately for boys and girls as well as for the population as a whole. We controlled extensively for factors that may be correlated with incense burning and birth weight and head circumference, such as parental religion, demographics, and health characteristics, as well as pregnancy-related variables.ResultsFindings from fully adjusted OLS regressions indicated that exposure to incense was associated with lower birth weight in boys (-18 g; 95% CI: -36, -0.94) but not girls (1 g; 95% CI: -17, 19; interaction p-value = 0.31). Associations with head circumference were negative for boys (-0.95 mm; 95% CI: -1.8, -0.16) and girls (-0.71 mm; 95% CI: -1.5, 0.11; interaction p-values = 0.73). Quantile regression results suggested that the negative associations were larger among the lower quantiles of birth outcomes.ConclusionsOLS regressions showed that prenatal incense burning was associated with lower birth weight for boys and smaller head circumference for boys and girls. The associations were more pronounced among the lower quantiles of birth outcomes. Further research is necessary to confirm whether incense burning has differential effects by sex.CitationChen LY, Ho C. 2016. Incense burning during pregnancy and birth weight and head circumference among term births: The Taiwan Birth Cohort Study. Environ Health Perspect 124:1487-1492; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1509922.