Peer-reviewed article
The Importance of National Monitoring of Children's Growth: Consensus Statement From the Nordic PromoKids Network.
Liselotte Schäfer Elinder, Lauren Lissner, Annika Janson, Tatjana Hejgaard, Emil Steen Steensen et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This consensus statement describes how five Nordic countries currently monitor children's growth through health services and identifies gaps in their surveillance systems. All Nordic countries measure children's weight and height from birth through school age, but data is not consistently centralised for public health use. The authors recommend that growth surveillance become a mandatory part of national obesity prevention plans and that Nordic countries collaborate to improve data coverage and reduce health inequalities.
Key points
- All five Nordic countries measure children's weight and height repeatedly from birth, but data collection methods and intervals vary
- Finland and Denmark have the most mature centralised data systems compared to other Nordic countries
- Data are not consistently registered centrally in all countries for use in public health planning, policymaking and research
- Surveillance protocols should be designed to prevent stigmatisation of children with overweight
- Nordic collaboration is needed to achieve comprehensive data coverage and evaluate societal actions to prevent childhood obesity
Limitations
This is a consensus statement based on expert review rather than empirical research, so it does not provide evidence on the effectiveness of growth monitoring interventions or outcomes for children. It describes current systems but does not evaluate the impact of different surveillance approaches on child health outcomes.
Abstract
AIM: To describe the current approaches to surveillance and use of data on children's growth in the Nordic countries and to reach consensus on how this can be improved. METHODS: Members of the Promoting Healthy Weight in Children (PromoKids) network and additional public health professionals from five Nordic countries described their respective national growth surveillance systems. The various approaches to data collection and consolidation were analysed and compared. RESULTS: In Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland, all children's weight and height are measured repeatedly at different intervals from birth by child and school health services. However, the data are not consistently registered centrally in all countries for use in public health planning, policymaking and research. Finland and Denmark had the most mature systems for data collection. CONCLUSION: A consensus was reached that surveillance of body weight and height should be a mandatory element of national action plans to prevent and manage growth disorders including obesity, and to identify susceptible population groups. Surveillance protocols should be designed to prevent stigmatisation of children with overweight. Nordic countries should collaborate to accomplish comprehensive data coverage to uncover social inequalities and evaluate societal actions to prevent obesity in children.