To have thorough understanding of the processes and status of the growth and development of children from birth to the age of six years is of prime importance to the physicians who are engaged in the field practice of pediatrics. Its adequate knowledge is also the basic prerequisite to scientific studies and researches in the field of child health.
Naturally, a great deal of extensive studies on growth and development has been done in the various countries in the world. In Korea, too, a few of the results of studies on the subject were published in the past. Since the data from the foreign studies are not-directly applicable to the evaluation of Korean children and since the data (presented by the workers at home become obsolete, with their sample size inadequately too small°and with the age) and monthly intervals employed in the studies too wide, however, the G4513physicians are confronted with the difficulties of standardizingg thee measured values of the physical growth and development of Korean infants and children in preschool stages including new borns. In checking the values in Korea today, the bewildered physicians have to unhappily, depend upon either the ob´solete values and standards published at home decades ago, or the inadequate ones barrowed from the other countries.
Thus, it is strongly urged among the physicians working in the field of public health or pediatrics to bring out a new standard applcable to the evaluation of the growth and development of children in Korea.
The necessity of providing the up-to-date standard is felt particularly urgent when it is taken into consideration that the means of body weight and height of children at all the age brackets tend to increase and may vary with heredity, constitution, sex, race, nationality and other geographycal conditions, and that the socio-economic environmental factors, especially nutrition and sanitary conditions of the environment´ in which the children are raised may exert a great deal of influence to the growth and development of children. Considering the environmental factors in Korea that have undergone tremendous changes since 1945, it is felt that re-evaluation of the status of the growth and development of children in this country should be seriously taken ,jp at the earliest possible date.
The author collected data on the measurements of height, body weight, girth of chest and girth of head, of children from birth to the age of six years, (18,437 males and 15,345 females) in the year of 1960 over the widely scattered sample areas in Korea that were selected so as to represent the population best. The collected data were given statistical analysis and .were suns uarized as follows:
1) Means and standard deviations of measured values on height, weight, girth of chest and girth of head, for newborns and infants, classified according to the ages and sexes, were entered in the Table 3 and 4.
2) "The Standard Values for Growth" were derived from the analysis of measured values on heighs, weight, girth of chest and girth of head by different age and sex groups, by employing the means and standard deviations of the measurements. (Table 5, 6,7, and, 8)
3) Measurements of weight by different monthly groups for infants, by different age groups for pre-school children, and by different height were entered in the Table 9 and 10.
4) Increments and rates of growth of height, weight, girth of chest and girth of head, by different, monthly groups for infants, by different age groups. for pre-school children and by different sex groups were entered in Table 11 and 12.
5) Comparison was made with the coresponding values of growth in other countries over years by different sex groups. (Table 13, 14, 15, and 16)
6) Growth curves by different monthly and age groups and by defferent sex groups, were entered in the Fig. I to Fig 16.
7) Growth curves for height and weight, by different monthly and age groups were given, and the curves showing the monthly and yearly increments of the values were incorporated in the respective growth curves. (Fig. 17 to Fig. 20)
8) Increments of growth in general were most notable at the earlier stage of infant and tended to level off over the period covering the --laterstage. of infant and the" earlier stage of pre-school child. The greatest among the various rates of growth was seen in weight, and the least in girth of head after 2 years of age.
9) The mean of measured values for a specified type of growth for male is always greater than that for female. It is smaller than that for European or American children in either sex, but greater than that for Japanese children.
10) No marked difference between the mean of measured values for a specified type of growth for European or American infants and that for Korean infants was noted at the earlier stage of infant. However, the difference became evident, at the later stage of infant, espeially in weight and height.
Through these studies, the. author strived to grasp the status of the growth and development, of infants and pre-school children in Korea as it is today over the country. At the same time, "The Standard Values for Growth" were introduced herein in order to help facilitate the evaluation of measurements of physical growth of infants and pre-school children in Korea.
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