Head circumference standards for school children of Shiraz, Iran

The measurements of head circumference (HC) of 2228 healthy school children (1160 boys and 1068 girls) aged 6.5-11.5 years are presented for the first time. The data were sampled in a multistage scheme and collected through a large-scale cross-sectional growth study carried out in Shiraz, the capital of Fars province of Iran. The results indicated that the HC measurements centiles of the girls lied below that of the boys in all age groups. Comparison of our data of the children with their peers in Turkey, Ireland, Japan and USA showed that on average, girl, HC measurements in Shiraz are larger that of their Turkish counterparts up to the age of 10 years and lie on that later on, but smaller than that of their peers from other mentioned studies. However, boys' HC measurements of Shiraz are lower than that of their peers at all ages. The article, therefore, concludes that the standards for HC will differ from country to country and supports local standards in this regard.