Inaccuracy of stated versus measured parental heights.

Routine measurement of children's height is essential in monitoring for deviations in normal growth velocity. Target adult height of children is estimated by determining an adjusted midparental height. Such determinations are dependent on the accurate acquisition of parental height. Incorrect assessment of parental height will result in inaccurate expectations for the child's height. To observe the difference between stated and measured parental heights within a United States subspecialty setting, prospective acquisition of parental stated and measured heights during the summer months of 2000 and 2001 was examined. Two hundred and thirty-eight parents, 185 mothers and 53 fathers, were measured. The mean values of the stated heights for mothers and fathers were 163.7 cm +/- 6.3 cm and 177.1 cm +/- 8.6 cm, respectively. The corresponding measured heights were 163.0 cm +/- 5.9 cm and 175.2 cm +/- 6.6 cm, respectively. The mean height difference for mothers was 0.69 cm (p<0.001) while the mean height difference for fathers was 1.90 cm (p<0.001). Parents significantly overestimate their height in a clinical setting. Fathers overestimate to a greater degree than mothers. These findings emphasize the need to obtain height measurement of parents along with that of their children in assessing for linear growth delay.