Postnatal Growth

France's national healthcare system uses a Carnet de Santé (Health Booklet) for recording health information. The booklets are issued at birth and contain a history of a child's health. A specimen booklet may be downloaded from the French Ministry of Health. Growth curves begin on page 76. Note that these curves mix the the sexes in some cases and are based on data compiled in the 1970s (1).

The curves below were made from newer data in a study of ~7,000 six-year-old children in the Rhone-Alpes area of France (2). Data from the children's health booklets were retrieved, giving in ~35,000 individual measurements from 0 to 6 years.

Size at Birth by Gestational Age

The curves in this section were made from data in a study of ~18,000 infants born between 1980 and 1990 in a single large hospital in France (3). All newborns were singletons who had been born to French parents.

Turner Syndrome

Turner syndrome (TS) is a condition that affects only girls. Its most common sign is short stature, which occurs in in 100% of cases. Girls with TS are smaller than most infants at birth, and they fall off the growth charts quickly. Without treatment, the average adult woman with TS is only 4 feet 8 inches tall, but girls who receive growth hormones may grow to the low end of the normal height range. Girls with TS also need estrogen therapy to help them develop physically, and they may have to continue taking it as adults. Fertility problems are very common in TS. In many cases, they are due to an underdeveloped or absent uterus and abnormalities with the ovaries. However, this problem is not universal, and some women with TS can become pregnant with assistance from reproductive therapy. Heart problems, kidney problems, and thyroid problems are also common in TS. Overall intelligence in most girls and women with TS is usually normal, but some people may have problems with math and manual dexterity. In addition, and in childhood especially, relations with other children may be challenging due to poor social skills.

TS is caused by a damaged or missing X chromosome. It is the most common sex chromosome disorder in females, with estimates that one girl in 2,500 has TS. For more information about TS in English, visit our Turner syndrome web page or the Turner Syndrome pages of the Mayo Clinic.

Growth Curves

The curve below was made from a longitudinal study of growth in 160 French Turner syndrome patients born between 1965 and 1991 (4). None had been treated with growth hormones or anabolic steroids. The goal of the study was to create information that could be used to evaluate stature in TS. The curve is part of an official French publication on Turner syndrome. The document was created by the French National Authority for Health.

References

1. 1. Sempé M, Pédron G, Roy-Pernot M.P. (1979) Auxologie méthode et séquences. Théraplix. Paris. Abstract on publisher website.
2. 2. Remontet L et al. (1999) Courbes de croissance de la naissance à 6 ans: croissance en poids, taille et périmètre crânien selon le sexe. Arch Pédiatr 6(5):520-529. Abstract on PubMed.
3. 3. Guihard-Costa AM et al. (1997). Sexual differences in anthropometric measurements in French newborns. Biol Neonate 72(3):156-164. Abstract on PubMed.
4. 4. Cabrol S, et al. (1996) Syndrome de Turner: croissance staturopondérale et maturation osseuse spontanées. Arch Pédiatr 3(4):313-318. Abstract on PubMed.