Worldwide variation in human growth and the World Health Organization growth standards: a systematic review.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The World Health Organization (WHO) has established a set of growth curves for use as international standards in children up to age 5. The WHO's position is that all economically advantaged children who were breastfed as infants grow similarly. As a result, a single set of growth charts can be used to judge growth in any child, regardless of race or ethnicity. The goal of this study was to compare mean heights, weights and head circumferences from a variety of studies with the WHO's data.

Design

We compared data from the WHO's Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS) with data from studies performed in 55 countries or ethnic groups.

Data sources

PubMed, WHO Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition, SciELO, Google Scholar, Textbooks and Ministries of

SUBMITTER: Natale V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3902406 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature