New International Child Growth Standards

The WHO has released new growth charts for infants and children up to age 5 years. Developed over 9 years, they involved 8,440 children from countries including Brasil, Chana, India, Norway, Oman and the USA.

These new standards are based on the breast fed child as the norm for growth and development. Children included in the study were raised in healthy environments with few infections and good diets. Their mothers were non-smokers during and after pregnancy, and whislt breast feeeding. The standards show that children given the best start in life grow within similar ranges of weight and height, irrespective of where they were born.

The Standard includes height/length for age, weight for age and BMI for age charts for both sexes. The Windows of Achievement Chart describes the time ranges for reaching gross motor developmental milestones such as sitting, standing, crawling and walking.

Who is encouraging all countries to adopt these Standards as they more accurately reflect how children should grow. Current growth charts used in Australia and overseas are limiting, as they are based on the growth of a small sample of children from the USA who were largely formula fed. They don;t reflect the growth of children born in other countries nor who are breast fed.

Further information and copies of the charts can be accessed here.