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Table 1 Race differences in (a) height/length, (b) weight, (c) BMI, (d) waist circumference, (e) hip circumference, and (f) waist-to-height ratio (%) from birth to adulthood. Sample sizes are given in Table 1(a) in square brackets. Length was not measured at birth

From: The prevalence of malnutrition and growth percentiles for urban South African children

(a) Height

Age Group

Males Mean + SD (cm) [N]

Females Mean + SD (cm) [N]

Black

White

P-value

Black

White

P-value

Birth

NA [1245]

NA [152]

NA

NA [1324]

NA [148]

NA

< 1

67.8 (6.9) [417]

67.1 (7.0) [66]

0.39

66.6 (6.8) [423]

66.2 (6.9) [48]

0.708

1

77.0 (4.7) [376]

80.7 (4.7) [23]

0.001

75.8 (4.7) [422]

77.8 (5.2) [24]

0.085

2

83.4 (3.6) [296]

87.8 (4.8) [31]

< 0.0001

82.6 (3.8) [300]

86.9 (3.9) [24]

< 0.0001

5

100.5 (4.0) [519]

104.5 (6.2) [18]

0.382

100.4 (4.3) [560]

102.5 (2.8) [17]

0.22

8

125.4 (6.1) [372]

125.1 (6.7) [15]

0.881

124.6 (5.9) [407]

126.1 (4.5) [12]

0.283

9

132.1 (5.9) [251]

137.1 (5.9) [42]

< 0.0001

132.8 (5.6) [253]

136.0 (6.6) [39]

0.005

10

137.4 (6.2) [182]

143.3 (7.2) [73]

< 0.0001

139.2 (6.3) [159]

142.9 (7.5) [65]

0.001

11

142.8 (6.7) [470]

148.7 (7.7) [73]

< 0.0001

145.8 (7.4) [505]

148.3 (8.0) [69]

0.018

12

147.6 (7.5) [603]

155.8 (9.0) [72]

< 0.0001

151.4 (6.8) [685]

155.0 (7.9) [78]

< 0.0001

13

153.8 (8.3) [613]

164.0 (9.9) [57]

< 0.0001

155.5 (6.2) [690]

160.3 (6.7) [63]

< 0.0001

14

160.2 (8.4) [701]

169.8 (9.1) [58]

< 0.0001

157.3 (5.9) [754]

162.9 (6.8) [74]

< 0.0001

15

165.6 (7.8) [759]

174.8 (8.4) [58]

< 0.0001

158.4 (6.2) [841]

163.8 (6.9) [61]

< 0.0001

16

168.6 (7.1) [685]

176.6 (7.8) [53]

< 0.0001

158.8 (5.9) [724]

164.5 (6.6) [61]

< 0.0001

17

170.3 (6.7) [502]

177.7 (8.8) [48]

< 0.0001

159.3 (6.2) [561]

165.3 (6.8) [61]

< 0.0001

18

171.2 (6.6) [449]

178.0 (8.0) [37]

< 0.0001

159.4 (6.1) [427]

166.3 (7.1) [36]

< 0.0001

19

170.0 (6.8) [55]

177.9 (7.7) [40]

< 0.0001

158.9 (6.5) [47]

164.1 (6.9) [42]

< 0.0001

20

171.3 (6.9) [103]

174.3 (6.8) [12]

0.183

158.8 (5.9) [99]

164.5 (6.7) [7]

0.066

21

171.6 (6.6) [695]

178.4 (7.4) [17]

0.002

159.7 (6.1) [711]

166.2 (7.2) [23]

< 0.0001

(b) Weight

 

Age Group

Males Mean + SD (kg)

Females Mean + SD (kg)

Black

White

P-value

Black

White

P-value

Birth

3.1 (0.5)

3.3 (0.5)

0.019

3.0 (0.5)

3.1 (0.5)

0.098

< 1

8.3 (1.9)

7.6 (2.0)

0.083

7.8 (1.7)

7.3 (2.0)

0.098

1

10.5 (1.7)

11.0 (1.7)

0.158

10.1 (1.7)

10.2 (2.0)

0.738

2

11.5 (1.7)

13.0 (1.6)

< 0.0001

11.4 (1.6)

12.0 (1.4)

0.037

5

16.0 (2.0)

16.5 (2.9)

0.814

15.8 (2.1)

16.4 (0.7)

0.188

8

25.2 (3.9)

28.1 (9.2)

0.228

24.9 (4.7)

26.1 (3.7)

0.312

9

28.8 (5.0)

32.7 (7.4)

0.023

29.6 (6.4)

30.3 (6.3)

0.541

10

32.6 (6.6)

35.6 (6.2)

0.009

34.7 (8.3)

36.1 (8.1)

0.248

11

35.7 (8.0)

39.8 (7.3)

< 0.0001

38.9 (10.0)

40.5 (9.4)

0.189

12

39.5 (8.6)

45.6 (10.3)

< 0.0001

44.8 (10.9)

46.4 (11.0)

0.244

13

44.1 (9.9)

53.2 (12.1)

< 0.0001

50.1 (11.9)

51.8 (10.9)

0.228

14

49.2 (10.6)

59.4 (12.8)

< 0.0001

53.2 (11.5)

55.5 (10.9)

0.094

15

53.8 (10.4)

64.9 (12.6)

< 0.0001

55.7 (11.7)

57.0 (10.1)

0.343

16

56.9 (9.9)

66.7 (10.8)

< 0.0001

57.6 (12.1)

59.2 (10.6)

0.276

17

59.0 (9.8)

71.3 (12.2)

< 0.0001

59.0 (11.5)

60.1 (12.3)

0.494

18

59.8 (9.7)

71.1 (12.9)

< 0.0001

59.1 (11.9)

63.1 (12.9)

0.079

19

63.1 (14.5)

73.9 (16.5)

0.013

61.4 (13.8)

61.9 (15.2)

0.881

20

62.5 (11.0)

68.6 (8.1)

0.033

60.4 (12.8)

69.8 (9.4)

0.039

21

63.6 (11.6)

75.1 (10.7)

0.004

65.1 (16.1)

59.9 (10.2)

0.027

(c) BMI

Age Group

Males Mean + SD (kg/m^2)

Females Mean + SD (kg/m^2)

Black

White

P-value

Black

White

P-value

Birth

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

< 1

17.9 (2.3)

16.7 (1.6)

< 0.0001

17.5 (2.0)

16.2 (1.9)

0.001

1

17.7 (1.8)

16.9 (1.7)

0.044

17.5 (1.9)

16.7 (1.6)

0.041

2

16.5 (2.2)

16.9 (1.6)

0.197

16.7 (2.0)

15.9 (1.8)

0.067

5

15.8 (1.3)

15.0 (0.9)

0.259

15.6 (1.3)

15.6 (0.6)

0.990

8

15.9 (1.5)

17.7 (4.5)

0.146

16.0 (2.1)

16.4 (2.0)

0.509

9

16.4 (2.0)

17.3 (3.1)

0.105

16.7 (2.8)

16.2 (2.1)

0.224

10

17.2 (2.6)

17.3 (2.1)

0.875

17.8 (3.4)

17.5 (2.6)

0.522

11

17.4 (3.1)

18.0 (2.5)

0.099

18.2 (3.8)

18.3 (2.9)

0.866

12

18.0 (2.9)

18.7 (3.3)

0.111

19.4 (4.0)

19.1 (3.2)

0.366

13

18.5 (3.2)

19.6 (3.2)

0.018

20.6 (4.4)

20.0 (3.4)

0.186

14

19.1 (3.3)

20.5 (3.5)

0.039

21.4 (4.3)

20.8 (3.6)

0.179

15

19.6 (3.1)

21.2 (3.4)

0.009

22.2 (4.4)

21.2 (3.4)

0.042

16

20.0 (3.0)

21.3 (2.7)

0.013

22.8 (4.5)

21.8 (3.3)

0.027

17

20.3 (3.0)

22.5 (3.1)

< 0.0001

23.2 (4.4)

21.9 (4.0)

0.019

18

20.4 (2.8)

22.4 (3.6)

0.017

23.2 (4.4)

22.8 (3.9)

0.490

19

21.8 (5.1)

23.3 (5.0)

0.168

24.3 (5.0)

22.9 (4.8)

0.178

20

21.3 (3.3)

22.6 (2.8)

0.146

23.9 (4.7)

25.8 (2.7)

0.142

21

21.6 (3.7)

23.5 (2.4)

0.055

25.5 (6.1)

21.7 (3.9)

0.001

(d) Waist circumference

Age group

Males Mean + SD (cm)

Females Mean + SD (cm)

Black

White

P-value

Black

White

P-value

9

57.1 (4.9)

59.9 (8.1)

0.046

57.2 (6.5)

57.7 (5.9)

0.648

10

58.7 (5.8)

60.8 (5.6)

0.008

58.4 (6.9)

59.5 (7.0)

0.277

11

60.6 (6.8)

63.4 (6.6)

0.001

61.4 (7.5)

63.0 (8.7)

0.167

12

62.6 (6.9)

66.1 (7.2)

< 0.0001

63.8 (7.8)

65.3 (8.4)

0.154

13

64.7 (7.5)

69.3 (7.8)

< 0.0001

67.3 (9.0)

67.7 (7.8)

0.709

14

67.0 (7.6)

72.1 (8.8)

< 0.0001

69.3 (9.1)

69.1 (8.5)

0.814

15

69.1 (7.8)

73.7 (9.6)

< 0.0001

71.0 (9.6)

69.6 (8.7)

0.233

16

69.4 (6.5)

75.6 (7.1)

< 0.0001

71.9 (9.8)

73.7 (9.4)

0.146

17

71.3 (7.2)

77.7 (7.4)

< 0.0001

74.3 (9.8)

74.8 (10.4)

0.701

18

72.6 (7.0)

77.1 (5.4)

0.002

76.0 (11.3)

78.2 (11.7)

0.396

19

73.3 (11.3)

81.7 (14.6)

0.021

72.7 (10.2)

67.9 (6.4)

0.022

20

71.7 (7.6)

76.7 (6.0)

0.020

69.3 (8.2)

76.4 (8.8)

0.080

21

75.7 (9.1)

82.9 (6.8)

< 0.0001

81.1 (13.2)

72.4 (9.3)

< 0.0001

(e) Hip circumference

Age group

Males Mean + SD (cm)

Females Mean + SD (cm)

Black

White

P-value

Black

White

P-value

9

63.4 (6.2)

66.3 (8.2)

0.044

65.8 (9.3)

66.3 (7.4)

0.746

10

71.0 (6.8)

73.7 (6.6)

0.004

75.1 (8.9)

75.6 (7.5)

0.670

11

76.4 (8.0)

78.0 (6.7)

0.088

80.3 (9.6)

79.0 (7.8)

0.201

12

78.6 (8.1)

81.5 (7.9)

0.004

85.2 (10.2)

84.6 (9.4)

0.635

13

81.5 (8.9)

86.2 (8.6)

< 0.0001

90.9 (10.4)

90.4 (8.9)

0.673

14

84.4 (8.4)

89.8 (8.6)

< 0.0001

94.3 (10.0)

92.6 (8.1)

0.079

15

87.5 (8.4)

92.5 (9.7)

< 0.0001

95.7 (10.0)

94.4 (7.2)

0.193

16

89.3 (7.4)

92.8 (7.2)

0.001

96.8 (9.6)

95.5 (8.5)

0.221

17

90.8 (7.8)

94.0 (7.0)

0.002

99.5 (9.5)

95.2 (8.3)

< 0.0001

18

90.8 (6.9)

92.5 (5.6)

0.196

99.4 (10.2)

97.6 (8.2)

0.339

19

90.7 (10.5)

97.1 (11.0)

0.027

100.0 (11.9)

93.8 (8.4)

0.020

20

90.8 (7.6)

95.0 (6.9)

0.075

98.6 (10.9)

101.1 (6.4)

0.378

21

93.3 (8.5)

99.1 (6.0)

0.001

104.6 (12.9)

96.1 (8.8)

< 0.0001

(f) Waist-to-height ratio

Age group

MalesMean + SD

Females Mean + SD

Black

White

P-value

Black

White

P-value

9

43.0 (3.3)

43.6 (5.3)

0.514

42.8 (4.0)

42.3 (3.3)

0.458

10

42.7 (3.8)

42.4 (3.2)

0.510

42.0 (4.3)

41.6 (4.0)

0.596

11

42.4 (4.2)

42.8 (4.4)

0.508

42.1 (4.6)

42.4 (4.8)

0.601

12

42.4 (4.0)

42.4 (4.2)

0.912

42.1 (4.9)

42.1 (4.8)

0.888

13

42.1 (4.6)

42.3 (4.2)

0.777

43.3 (5.7)

42.2 (4.3)

0.057

14

41.8 (4.7)

42.5 (5.0)

0.327

44.0 (5.7)

42.6 (5.1)

0.021

15

41.7 (4.7)

41.8 (4.2)

0.843

44.8 (6.0)

42.6 (5.3)

0.003

16

41.2 (3.8)

42.8 (3.6)

0.002

45.3 (6.3)

44.7 (5.3)

0.418

17

41.8 (4.2)

43.8 (3.8)

0.001

46.7 (6.3)

45.4 (6.2)

0.097

18

42.4 (3.9)

43.6 (3.0)

0.082

47.6 (6.9)

47.5 (6.3)

0.935

19

43.2 (7.0)

46.2 (8.4)

0.150

45.8 (6.4)

41.3 (3.6)

0.001

20

41.9 (4.4)

44.1 (4.1)

0.110

43.7 (5.2)

46.4 (4.6)

0.181

21

44.2 (5.3)

46.5 (3.2)

0.009

50.8 (8.3)

43.6 (5.6)

< 0.0001

  1. Age group < 1 = age between 3 months and 1 year; 21 = age 21 years or greater
  2. p-values less than 0.05 are in bold