Geographical Distribution of Growth Disorders in Iranian Children and Adolescents: The CASPIAN-IV Study

Abstract

Background: Iran is a vast country with great variability in ethnicity and geographical regions as well as higher diversity in socioeconomic and demographic factors in different provinces. All these differences could influence the growth indicators of children and may result in a substantial inequality in the distribution of growth indexes across Iranian provinces. This study aimed to determine the distribution of growth disorders of Iranian children according to the geographical and climatic conditions.

 Methods: In this nationwide cross-sectional study, students aged 6-18 years, living in urban and rural areas of 30 provinces in Iran, were studied. The prevalence of underweight, overweight, obesity, abdominal obesity and short stature were determined in different geographical regions of Iran using the geographic information system (GIS) and ArcGIS software.

Results: Overall, 13486 children with mean age of 12.5 (CI: 12.3 - 12.6) years were studied. The prevalence of overweight and obesity as well as underweight ranged between 5-15%, in most provinces. Underweight was more prevalent in very hot and hot regions than in cold regions. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher in regions with cold and rainy weather. The prevalence of short stature in most of the provinces ranged between 5-15%.

Conclusion: The findings provide geographic disparities of growth disorders among Iranian pediatrics population. They could be used as baseline information for planning further studies to determine the causal pathway for reported wide range of reported growth disorders and their association with different geographical and climatic regions.

Keywords: Obesity, Overweight, Underweight, Short stature, Children, Adolescents, Iran