Ekhard E Ziegler1, Steven E Nelson. 1. Fomon Infant Nutrition Unit, Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA. ekhard-ziegler@uiowa.edu
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To describe the creation of the World Health Organization Child Growth Standards (WHO standards) released in 2006, to show their main features and to compare them with existing charts. RECENT FINDINGS: The WHO standards are the first globally representative growth standards. They describe the growth of children worldwide who are living in favorable circumstances. The WHO standards are well suited for intercountry comparisons. SUMMARY: Comparison with other charts reveals important differences with implications for child health monitoring. Recent studies comparing the use of the WHO standards to use country-specific growth references suggest that the latter may describe the growth of children more faithfully than the WHO standards. Use of the WHO standards in public health surveys must await the development of specific cutoffs.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To describe the creation of the World Health Organization Child Growth Standards (WHO standards) released in 2006, to show their main features and to compare them with existing charts. RECENT FINDINGS: The WHO standards are the first globally representative growth standards. They describe the growth of children worldwide who are living in favorable circumstances. The WHO standards are well suited for intercountry comparisons. SUMMARY: Comparison with other charts reveals important differences with implications for child health monitoring. Recent studies comparing the use of the WHO standards to use country-specific growth references suggest that the latter may describe the growth of children more faithfully than the WHO standards. Use of the WHO standards in public health surveys must await the development of specific cutoffs.
Authors: Bingquan Zhu; Jian Zhang; Liqian Qiu; Colin Binns; Jie Shao; Yun Zhao; Zhengyan Zhao Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2015-06-30 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Fabio Bertapelli; Antonio de Azevedo Barros-Filho; Maria Ângela Reis de Góes Monteiro Antonio; Camila Justino de Oliveira Barbeta; Sofia Helena Valente de Lemos-Marini; Gil Guerra-Junior Journal: Biomed Res Int Date: 2014-05-15 Impact factor: 3.411