Body height and mass of children and adolescents in Poland: age-specific centile distributions from the 2024–2025 nationwide survey

Abstract

IntroductionData on the growth and development of the young generation constitute a reliable indicator of the health and nutritional status of societies. They can be used as a tool for monitoring the social and economic situation of the population as a whole and for identifying groups at risk within it. Study aim The aim of this paper was to present the empirical material underlying the centile estimation of body height and body mass in Polish children and adolescents, to describe the centile modelling procedure, and to report the resulting age-specific distributions of the analysed somatic traits. Materials and methodsOur study has a cross-sectional design and is distinguished by both its large sample size and nationwide coverage. A total of 23,988 students were measured (11,880 boys and 12,108 girls) in 405 schools across all regions of Poland between May 2024 and June 2025. Body height and body mass were measured and analysed statistically. ResultsThe results for body height and body mass are presented as centile charts shown against raw-data scatterplots and supplemented with tables of centile values. ConclusionsThe results presented here may provide a basis for the development of up-to-date reference systems for basic somatic traits in school-aged children and adolescents aged 6–18 years.