Auxology of small samples: A method to describe child growth when restrictions prevent surveys Auxology of small samples

Abstract

Traditionally, studies of child/adolescent growth and development use sizeable cross-sectional samples that can be analyzed by determining parameters of morphological/functional traits distributions in separate age groups, or numerous sets of longitudinal observations. There are, however, situations where children of some specific, rare groups, are not very numerous or where studies of larger samples encounter legal and logistic problems, e.g. limited contact under COVID restrictions. In such situations, dividing small samples of observations into age classes, usually of one year duration, is