In order to better define the trends and patterns of growth for children of Asian refugee families residing in the USA, we studied the anthropometric data from 12 states collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System (PedNSS) from 1979 to 1993. The Asian refugee children under 5 years of age showed a progressive and significant decline in the prevalence of low height-for-age and low weight-for-age, while those nutritional indices remained stable for low income white children and black children. By 1993, the growth status of Asian refugee children was comparable with that of other ethnic groups. This marked improvement over a short period strongly suggests that the poor growth status earlier observed among recently immigrated Asian children was due to nutritional and health factors related to socioeconomic conditions, rather than to genetic factors, as is often suggested. Detailed analysis of each birth cohort born at different time periods found that low anthropometry during infancy is a strong predicator of smaller body size later in childhood.