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Background Disturbed growth of the trunk may result in abnormal sternocostal relationship and a variety of pectus deformities. Aims The purposes of this study were to establish norms of trunk anthropometry for dysmorphology identification in the newborns and to evaluate chest circumference as a predictor for low birth weight for outborn infants where weighing scales were unavailable. Study design and subjects A total of 10,339 Chinese infants (5478 males, 4861 females) with gestation 24–42 weeks from 12 hospitals were included. The anthropometric measurements analyzed included chest circumference, inter-nipple distance, sternal length and abdominal circumference. Outcome measures The LMS method using maximum penalized likelihood was used to perform model fitting of the anthropometric centiles for these physical parameters. Results References tables of the four physical parameters for newborns were constructed. Chest circumference showed the highest correlation with birth weight (male: r =0.866, female: r =0.883). The cut-off points for chest circumference of 295 (male) and 299 mm (female) were the best predictor for low birth weight. There were also racial differences in these parameters. When compared with French infants, Chinese newborns had smaller chest circumference. Conclusion These physical parameters provide useful references and aid dysmorphology diagnosis in newborns of ethnic Chinese origin.