Body length prediction using ulnar length for children aged 0–23 months in East Jakarta

The body length measurement is important for monitoring the growth and development of children; however, the length is frequently measured incorrectly in children under 24 months old. Errors of 60–70% can be caused by child-related factors, especially their movement. Therefore, surrogate anthropometric measurements are required when the actual body length measurement is unobtainable and/or unreliable. This cross-sectional study was designed to develop a body length prediction model for children based on the ulna length by using liner regression. From May through June of 2018, eighty-eight boys and ninety-two girls aged 0–23 months old from several integrated children’s health centres in East Jakarta, Indonesia were recruited for this study. The study results showed that there were very strong correlations between the right ulna length and the body length (boys r=0.917, p≤0.005; girls r=0.951, p≤0.005) and the left ulna length and the body length (boys r=0.914, p≤0.005; girls r=0.952, p≤0.005). The equations containing the left ulna length and the age had the lowest standard error of the estimate (SEE) values, and they provided the most reliable length estimations for the boys and the girls (SEE ±1.222 cm and ±1.245 cm, respectively). Further studies with greater sample sizes that better represent each age category are needed in order to produce equations with smaller SEE values.