2.3. Definitions of growth patterns

Participants’ birth length and height were Z‐Scored according to the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts for the United States (US CDC standards (2000)), ²¹ and it was recommended to assess size and growth in infants, children, and adolescents in clinical practice. ³⁸ According to the definition by Robert J. Kuczmarski, and his colleagues, a gain in Z‐Score for birth length and current height greater than 0.67 was taken to indicate clinically significant catch‐up growth, similarly, a decrease in Z‐Score less than ‐0.67 was considered as catch‐down growth, and the others between the two limits were judged as normal growth.