WHOChild Growth Standards

The origin of the WHO Child Growth Standards dates back to the early 1990s when a group of experts
was appointed to conduct a meticulous evaluation of the National Center for Health Statistics/World
Health Organization (NCHS/WHO) growth reference that had been recommended for international use
since the late 1970s (WHO, 1995). The limitations of the NCHS/WHO reference have been
documented (WHO Working Group on Infant Growth, 1994; de Onis and Habicht, 1996; de Onis and
Yip, 1996). The data used to construct the reference covering birth to three years of age came from a
longitudinal study of children of European ancestry from a single community in the USA. These
children were measured every three months, which is inadequate to describe the rapid and changing
rate of growth in early infancy. Also, the statistical methods available at the time the NCHS/WHO
growth curves were constructed were too limited to correctly model the pattern and variability of
growth. As a result, the NCHS/WHO curves do not adequately represent early childhood growth.