• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.193-201
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• 2010

Early childhood caries (ECC) is a comprehensive terminology that includes nursing bottle caries and rampant dental caries occurred in infants and children. In previous studies, ECC was thought to affect body growth of children negatively. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of ECC on body growth of children in respect of their chronologic age and degree of dental caries. Height and body weight were used as means for physical growth measurements. Children, who visited the pediatric department of Yonsei University Dental Hospital, received oral and physical examinations, and they were divided into the control and ECC groups. Then, each group was subdivided according to their age and gender. Two-sample T test was used to compare the mean height and body weight of the control and ECC groups, and Likelihood Ratio Chi-square test was used to compare their growth percentile distribution. When the mean height and weight were compared, there was a common tendency observed even though statistical significance was not found in all cases. Before the age of 3-4, the mean height and weight tended to be greater in the ECC groups compared to the control groups, whereas after the age of 3-4, the mean height and weight of the ECC group tended to be less compared to the control group. In addition, in groups with age equal or greater than 3-4, which presented significant difference in height and body weight, the percentage of children showing less than 3 percentile growth was greater in the ECC group than the control group. These results imply the negative effects of the ECC on physical growth of the infants and children, and its effects on physical growth may present different characteristics according to chronologic age of the patients.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.26-32
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• 2008

Purpose : This study was to provide the methods of developing the growth charts and the blood pressure nomogram among Korean children and adolescents. Methods : The growth charts were developed based on the data from the national growth surveys for children and adolescents in 1998 and 2005. The percentile charts were developed through two stages. At the first stage, the selected empirical charts were smoothed through several fitting procedures including parametric and non-parametric methods. At the second stage, a modified LMS (lambda, mu, sigma) statistical procedure was applied to the smoothed percentile charts. The LMS procedure allowed to estimate any percentile and to calculate standard deviation units and z-scores. The charts for weight-for-age, height-for-age, BMI-for-age, weight-for-height and head circumference-for-age were developed by sex. Age and normalized height controlled sex-specific nomograms of systolic and diastolic blood pressure were developed by a fixed effect model of general regression using the data from 2005 national growth survey. Results : The significant systemic differences between the percentiles of growth charts and the empirical data were not found. The final output of the study is available from Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention homepage, http://www.cdc.go.kr/webcdc/. Blood Pressure nomogram was tabulated by height percentiles and age using the regression coefficients analyzed with regression model. Conclusion : 2007 growth charts and blood pressure nomogram were the first products based on the statistical modeling using the national survey data. The further study on the methodology including data collection, data cleaning and statistical modeling for representative growth charts would be needed.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.167-173
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• 2003

Purpose: To find out the differences in eating habits between poor feeding and non-poor feeding children. Methods: We performed questionnaires on 504 children under four years of age who visited hospitals in Gwangju city and JaollaNamdo from May to August, 2002. Results: 138 (27.4%) children were included in poor feeding group, and 366 (72.%) children were in non-poor feeding group. Breast feeding rate was 18.8% in the poor feeding group and 20.3% in the non-poor feeding group. Duration of breast feeding for less than six months were noted in 70.5% of poor feeding group, and 58.5% of non-poor feeding group. The time at starting solid food in the poor feeding group was as follows; 15.9% of infants started on solid food when they were 2~4 months old, 32.7% during 4~6 months, 38.1% during 6~8 months and 18.8% over one year of age. Solid food was given in wrongly manners in both groups by nursing bottles, including 80.4% in poor feeding group and 66.6% in non-poor feeding group. Conclusion: This study demonstrated close relationships among poor feeding children under four years of age with history of low rate and short duration of breast feeding, inappropriate time to start on solid food, less interest in food during mealtime, and unbalanced diet. Pediatricians should make an effort to play an important role in nutritional education and treatment in children.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.12
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• pp.1329-1335
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• 2008

Purpose : This study aimed to determine the best cutoff line for insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP)-3 to discriminate between growth hormone deficiency (GHD) patients and the control group. Methods : Two hundred thirty subjects with normal controls (129 boys and 101 girls, aged 7-15 years), 14 patients with complete GHD (12 boys and 2 girls), and 17 patients with partial GHD (9 boys and 8 girls) were studied. IGF-I serum concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay (RI), and IGFBP-3 concentrations were measured by immunoradiometric assay (IRMA). Results : The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plot analysis showed that the best IGF-I and IGFBP-3 cutoff line was at -1 standard deviation (SD). By comparing IGF-I serum levels of GHD children within 1 SD of normal control, we determined the sensitivity (S) (87.5-100%) and specificity (Sp) (80-84.6%) according to the age group. For IGFBP-3, we determined the following values: S (58.7-85.7%) and Sp (79.2-85.5%). Eleven of 14 patients with complete GHD (78.5%) and 16 of 17 patients with partial GHD (94.1%) had IGF-I concentrations equal to or below -1 SD of the control group mean. Ten of 12 complete GHD children (83.3%) and 13 of 17 partial GHD children (76.5%) had IGFBP-3 concentrations equal or below -1 SD of the control group mean. Conclusion : We conclude that the measurement of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 concentrations might provide essential supplementary data in the diagnostic evaluation of patients with GHD. Our results support the need to use cutoff lines based on below -1 SD of the control.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.9
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• pp.1126-1133
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• 2002

Purpose : Prader-Willi syndrome(PWS) is a complex disorder affecting multisystems with characteristic clinical features. Its genetic basis is an expression defect in the paternally derived chromosome 15q11-q13. We analyzed the clinical features and genetic basis of PWS patients for early detection and treatment. Methods : We retrospectively studied 24 patients with PWS in Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Medical Center, from September 1997 to September 2001. We performed cytogenetic and molecular genetic techniques using high resolution GTG banding techniques, fluorescent in situ hybridization and methylation-specific PCR for CpG island of SNRPN gene region. Results : The average birth weight of PWS patients was $2.67{\pm}0.47kg$ and median age at diagnosis was 1.3 years. The average height and weight of PWS patients under one year at diagnostic time were located in a 3-10 percentile relatively, and a rapid weight gain was seen between two and six years. Feeding problems in infancy and neonatal hypotonia were the two most consistently positive major criteria in over 95% of the patients. In 18 of the 24 cases(75%), deletion of chromosome 15q11-q13 was demonstrated and one case among 18 had an unbalanced 14;15 translocation. In four cases without any cytogenetic abnormality, it may be considered as maternal uniparental disomy and the rest showed another findings. Conclusion : We suggest diagnostic testing for PWS in all infants/neonates with unexplained feeding problems and hypotonia. It is necessary for clinically suspicious patients to undergo an early genetic test. As the genetic basis of PWS was heterogenous and complex, further study is required.