PC PAL was pleased to attend the 17th Congress of the International Society for the Study of Growth and Clinical Auxology (ISGA 2026), held in Loughborough, UK, from 22–24 June.
Keeping up with the latest developments in paediatric growth and clinical auxology is important to the development of GrowthXP, the child growth and development software for paediatric specialists.
Severe obesity in children and adolescents was one of the clinically important topics discussed at the congress. As childhood obesity continues to increase worldwide, paediatricians need reliable ways to monitor severe obesity and assess the impact of treatment. Body Mass Index standard deviation scores (BMI SDS) are widely used to assess weight status in children. However, experts have highlighted potential limitations of BMI SDS when monitoring children with severe obesity, particularly at the upper end of the BMI distribution.
The congress discussion highlighted alternative approaches for monitoring children and adolescents with severe obesity. One approach described in the scientific literature is to express BMI as a percentage above the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) BMI 25 reference. Measures such as these may provide clinicians with an alternative and potentially more meaningful way to monitor changes in BMI in children at the highest levels of obesity.
As approaches to childhood obesity assessment and growth monitoring continue to evolve, keeping clinicians informed about developments in paediatric auxology remains an important part of PC PAL’s work.
