Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between weak children and growth indices.
Methods: One hundred twenty-six first and second grade elementary school students who had yet to develop their secondary sexual characteristics answered the questionnaire. Their bone age and body composition were measured.
Results:
1. In the Weak Children questionnaire analysis, the distribution of Weak Children groups showed the highest respiratory weak children (35.7%), followed by digestive weak children (23.0%), psycho-neurological weak children (22.2%), neuromotor weak children (9.5%), and urogenital weak children (8.7%).
2. The results of the comparison between the growth indices of weak children and normal children are as follows:
1) Digestive weak children had lower growth indices than digestive normal children in mean height, weight, total body water, protein mass, mineral mass, body fat, skeletal muscle mass, body fat percentage, body mass index (BMI), and basal metabolic rate (BMR).
2) Urogenital weak children had lower mean height, RH, RH-MPH, RUS score, weight, protein mass, body fat, BMI, and visceral fat than urogenital normal children.
3. The results of the multiple comparisons of growth indices and weak children groups are as follows:
1) Digestive weak children were the lowest in total body water, protein mass, mineral mass, skeletal muscle mass, and basal metabolic rate.
2) Urogenital weak children were the lowest in height, RH, RH-MPH, RUS score, and weight.
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that growth correlated with weak symptoms, especially weak digestive and urogenital symptoms. Therefore, this may be an effective way for children growth treatment in Korean medicine to treat weak symptoms