Regional variation in weight‐for‐height z‐scores and surface area/body mass ratio of Chilean children from birth to 3 years of age

Objective The objectives of the study were to see how much of the variation in weight‐for‐height z‐scores (WHZ) and surface area/body mass ratio (SA/mass) were associated with regional (county) differences including mean temperature. Subjects and methods Longitudinal data were obtained from routine medical check‐ups on 8,373 children from nine counties across Chile. WHZ and SA/mass were calculated from weight and height from birth to 3‐years old at 6 monthly intervals. County of birth was used as an independent variable after controlling for sociodemographic factors. Sequential repeated‐measures ANOVAs were used to analyze the changes in WHZ and SA/mass over the seven measurements from birth to 3 years of age. Simple and partial Pearson correlations were calculated between WHZ and annual mean temperature and between SA/mass and annual mean temperature after controlling for socioeconomic factors. Results County of birth was significantly (p