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Table 2 Height and height-for-age Z-scores * of boys and girls aged 6–9 years in COSI Round 2 (2009/2010), by age and country

From: WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative: body mass index and level of overweight among 6–9-year-old children from school year 2007/2008 to school year 2009/2010

Age group and country

Height (cm)

H/A Z-score

 

Boys

Girls

Boys

Girls

 

Mean (SD)

   

6-year-olds

 BEL

120.5 (5.3)§a

119.6 (5.3)a

0.36 (0.99)§a

0.34 (0.95)a

 SVN

124.4 (5.3)§b

123.5 (5.5)b

0.87 (0.99)b

0.88 (0.99)b

 ESP

121.4 (5.5)§c

120.5 (5.5)c

0.45 (1.01)c

0.41 (1.00)a

7-year-olds

 BEL

125.6 (6.0)§a

124.7 (6.0)a

0.32 (1.02)§a

0.29 (1.00)a

 CZE

126.0 (5.4)§abc

124.8 (5.7)abc

0.65 (1.00)bcde

0.57 (1.04)bc

 GRC

128.5 (5.8)§d

127.8 (5.9)de

0.71 (1.07)bf

0.70 (1.03)cd

 HUN

127.2 (5.9)§ef

126.0 (5.9)f

0.56 (1.07)beg

0.51 (1.04)be

 IRL

125.5 (5.2)§ac

123.8 (5.4)b

0.35 (0.93)ah

0.23 (0.96)af

 LVA

128.7 (5.6)§d

127.3 (5.7)d

0.62 (1.00)§be

0.51 (0.98)be

 LTU

129.5 (5.7)§g

128.6 (5.8)g

0.76 (1.02)cf

0.72 (1.00)d

 PRT

126.4 (5.5)§bce

125.5 (5.7)cf

0.35 (0.97)ah

0.33 (0.98)af

 SVN

129.0 (5.5)§dg

128.1 (5.6)eg

0.81 (0.95)f

0.78 (0.95)d

 ESP

127.1 (5.6)§ef

126.0 (5.7)f

0.47 (0.98)gh

0.40 (0.96)ef

 MKD

127.3 (6.4)§f

126.2 (6.4)f

0.52 (1.16)deg

0.48 (1.11)be

8-year-olds

 BEL

132.6 (5.9)§a

131.8 (6.0)a

0.48 (0.98)§a

0.41 (0.98)ab

 ITA

133.1 (6.0)§b

132.0 (6.1)b

0.41 (1.00)§b

0.29 (1.01)c

 NOR

133.1 (5.7)§bc

131.8 (5.8)ab

0.63 (0.96)§c

0.48 (0.94)a

 SVN

134.4 (5.8)§d

133.6 (5.8)c

0.76 (0.95)§d

0.68 (0.94)d

 ESP

132.4 (6.0)§ac

131.8 (5.9)ab

0.42 (0.99)ab

0.37 (0.96)bc

9-year-olds

 BEL

137.3 (6.5)§a

136.9 (6.8)a

0.40 (1.01)§a

0.28 (1.03)a

 GRC

139.9 (6.7)§b

139.3 (6.7)b

0.74 (1.07)§b

0.59 (1.07)b

 IRL

136.5 (5.8)§c

134.9 (6.5)c

0.37 (0.94)§ac

0.11 (1.04)c

 ITA

135.6 (6.0)§c

134.7 (6.3)c

0.32 (0.99)§c

0.15 (1.02)c

 LTU

140.5 (6.3)§b

139.9 (6.4)b

0.72 (1.00)§b

0.57 (0.99)b

 SVN

137.7 (6.0)§a

137.0 (6.2)a

0.67 (0.99)§b

0.55 (1.02)b

 ESP

137.8 (6.2)§a

136.9 (6.6)a

0.43 (0.96)§a

0.25 (0.99)ac

  1. Abbreviations: ANOVA analysis of variance, COSI Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative, H/A height-for-age, SD standard deviation, WHO World Health Organization.
  2. *Based on the 2007 WHO growth reference for school-age children and adolescents [17].
  3. Children with a H/A Z-score < −6 or > +6 were excluded.
  4. The country codes refer to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 3166–1 Alpha-3 country codes and countries were listed in alphabetical order by their full names: BEL, Belgium (Flanders); CZE, Czech Republic; GRC, Greece; HUN, Hungary; IRL, Ireland; ITA, Italy; LVA, Latvia; LTU, Lithuania; NOR, Norway; PRT, Portugal (all regions except Madeira); SVN, Slovenia; ESP, Spain; MKD, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
  5. †Statistically significant difference of mean value across countries for the indicated age group (one-way ANOVA; P < 0.0001).
  6. §Statistically significant difference of mean value between boys and girls for the indicated country (one-way ANOVA; P < 0.05).
  7. a,b,c,d,e,f,g,hWithin each sex-age group (e.g. 6-year-old boys), mean values that share the same superscript letter do not statistically significantly differ from each other (Games-Howell post hoc test). For example, for the 6-year-old boys, each mean H/A Z-score value is significantly different from the other two whereas the value of Slovenian 6-year-old girls differed significantly from the other two and no significant difference was found between Belgian and Spanish 6-year-old girls.