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Worldwide implementation of the WHO Child Growth Standards
de Onis, M., Onyango, A., Borghi, E., Siyam, A., Bloessner, M., Lutter, C., & WHO Multictr Growth Reference Stud (2012). Worldwide implementation of the WHO Child Growth Standards. Public Health Nutrition, 15(9), 1603-1610. https://doi.org/10.1017/S136898001200105X
Objective: To describe the worldwide implementation of the WHO Child Growth Standards ('WHO standards').
Design: A questionnaire on the adoption of the WHO standards was sent to health authorities. The questions concerned anthropometric indicators adopted, newly introduced indicators, age range, use of sex-specific charts, previously used references, classification system, activities undertaken to roll out the standards and reasons for non-adoption.
Setting: Worldwide.
Subjects: Two hundred and nineteen countries and territories.
Results: By April 2011, 125 countries had adopted the WHO standards, another twenty-five were considering their adoption and thirty had not adopted them. Preference for local references was the main reason for non-adoption. Weight-forage was adopted almost universally, followed by length/height-for-age (104 countries) and weight-for-length/height (eighty-eight countries). Several countries (thirty-six) reported newly introducing BMI-for-age. Most countries opted for sex-specific charts and the Z-score classification. Many redesigned their child health records and updated recommendations on infant feeding, immunization and other health messages. About two-thirds reported incorporating the standards into pre-service training. Other activities ranged from incorporating the standards into computerized information systems, to providing supplies of anthropometric equipment and mobilizing resources for the standards' roll-out.
Conclusions: Five years after their release, the WHO standards have been widely scrutinized and implemented. Countries have adopted and harmonized best practices in child growth assessment and established the breast-fed infant as the norm against which to assess compliance with children's right to achieve their full genetic growth potential.
