Background: To investigate the distribution of the height, weight and body mass index (BMI) of children with\ncongenital cataracts (CC) before surgical treatment.\nMethods: This prospective study included children with CC ââ?°Â¤14 years of age presenting at the Zhongshan\nOphthalmic Center from Jan. 2013 to Aug. 2016. The height, weight, and BMI measurements of all participating\nchildren were obtained and compared with the World Health Organization Child Growth Reference (WHO Reference),\nmatched by age and gender. The presence of a family history of CC or complicated systemic diseases as well as\nparental education levels and family income were also recorded.\nResults: In total, 595 children with CC were included. The mean age was 52.75 Ã?± 33.99 months, and 34.29%\n(204/595) of them were unilateral cases. Among all of the children, 6.72% (40/595) of cases were complicated\nby systemic diseases. More than 1/5 (21.01%, 125/595) of the children had a family history of CC and exhibited\nbilateral involvement. Less than 1/4 (23.2) of the mothers were highly educated, and more than half of the\nfamilies had a family income below the city average. Height, weight, and BMI measurements of most children\nwith CC were within the normal ranges (Ã?±95% CI of the WHO Reference). Compared to the WHO Reference,\nboth girls and boys aged 2ââ?¬â??5 years revealed shorter heights, and the girls aged 5ââ?¬â??14 years exhibited a shorter\nheight, lower body weight and lower BMI. The heights of the children with CC and systemic diseases were also\nshorter than the WHO Reference. The children with CC who had a family history of disease had shorter heights\nand lower BMIs than children with CC but no family history, and the measurements of both groups were lower\nthan the WHO Reference values.\nConclusions: The height, weight and BMI of most of the children with CC in this study were within the normal ranges\nof the WHO Reference. However, the children with CC and concomitant systemic diseases and those with a family\nhistory of CC had shorter heights and lower BMIs. This information aids in our understanding of the physical\ndevelopment of children with CC.
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