Growth patterns in Saudi Arabian children.

The measurements of head and chest circumferences of 6623 Saudi Arabian pre-school children are presented for the first time. The data were collected through a large scale cross-sectional growth study carried out in Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The results indicate that the average head and chest circumference measurements of the girls were smaller than the boys in all age groups. The analysis of variance results confirmed that these differences were statistically significant. The date indicated that among the average-build (the 50th centile) pre-schoolers, the head circumference measurements of the newborns were larger than the chest circumference measurement by 4.5%. By one year of age, these measurements were equal. After one year, the chest circumference grew larger than the head circumference. However, among the small-build preschoolers (the 3rd centile), the chest circumference measurements did not reach the head circumference measurements until nearly 30 months after birth.