PRESS CONFERENCE ON WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION CHILD GROWTH STANDARDS

The World Health Organization (WHO) released new international child growth standards Thursday that will, for the first time ever, provide evidence and guidance on how to achieve optimal physical growth, nutrition and motor development of children under the age of five worldwide, Dr. Cutberto Garza, Director of the Food and Nutrition Programme of the United Nations University, said Thursday, during a Headquarters press conference.

The new standards -- the results of a global study of 8,000 breastfed infants of non-smoking mothers living in healthy environments in Brazil, Ghana, Oman, India, Norway and the United States -- confirmed that, when given an optimal start in life, children worldwide had similar potential for height and weight growth.

The innovative weight, height, body mass and motor development indicators would enable parents, doctors, policymakers and child advocates to monitor the nutrition and health care needs of children, as well as detect and address the problems of underweight and overweight youngsters at an early stage.

“We are now are able to decide how children should grow, regardless of time and place,” Dr. Garza said.  The old growth reference standard, in place since the late 1970s, described growth in particular regions or periods of time, but lacked a sound basis for evaluation against international standards and norms.

Reiner Gross, Chief of the Nutrition Section of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which helped develop some of the growth charts, said these new growth indicators empowered families and communities to chart child development.  They would also enable UNICEF to assess socio-economic development and trends and, thus, enhance UNICEF programmes aimed at meeting the millennium targets of eradicating poverty and reducing infant mortality worldwide.

WHO, the United Nations University (UNU), Governments, university investigators and the Gates Foundation sponsored the Multicentre Growth Reference Study, which resulted in development of the new standards.

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For information media • not an official record