Background: Diurnal variation of height is largely ignored in the assessment of growth in children. Diurnal decrease in stature may effect the reliability of height measurement. In this study, the degree of differences in daily height measurement were evaluated.
Methods: A total of 478 children, aged 3-15 years (mean age 9.9 +/- 2.3 years) were enrolled in the study. The height of children were measured twice in a day. The first measurements were taken between 09:00 and 10:00 h and the second measurements between 15:00 and 16:00 h.
Results: Children's height measurements differences were +1.8 to -2.7 cm, and a mean of 0.47 +/- 0.05 cm decrease was determined.
Conclusions: Little differences of height measurement could be very important in evaluating the short child. When the result of height measurement is recorded, recording the time of day is offered.