How every child worldwide should grow: the World Health Organization to release new child growth standards
The World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing new international Child Growth Standards for infants and young children which, for the first time, provide evidence and guidance about how every child in the world should grow.
The new WHO Child Growth Standards confirm that a child born anywhere in the world and given the optimum start in life has the potential to develop to within the same range of height and weight. With these new charts, parents, doctors, policymakers and child advocates will know when the nutrition and healthcare needs of children are not being met.
The new Standards for infants and young children are the result of a global study initiated by WHO in 1997 to develop a new international standard for assessing the physical growth, nutritional status and motor development in all children from birth to age five. WHO and its collaborators, including the United Nations University, national governments, investigators from several universities as well as the Gates Foundation, undertook the Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS). It has been a community-based, multi-country project involving more than eight thousand children from Brazil, Ghana, India, Norway, Oman, and the United States. The children were selected based on an optimum environment for proper growth: recommended infant and young child feeding practices, good healthcare, and mothers who did not smoke, among others.
The World Health Organization will release the WHO Child Growth Standards to the media on Thursday, April 27 at 1400 CET. Information is available to the media under embargo in advance at www.who.int/nutrition/media_page
News Conference: Media briefing for WHO Child Growth Standards
WHERE: UN Palais, Geneva
WHEN: 1400 CET Thursday, 27 April, 2006
WHO: Dr Catherine le Galès-Camus, Assistant Director-General,
Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, WHO
Dr Denise Costa Coitinho, Director of Nutrition for Health and Development, WHO
Dr Mercedes de Onis
Growth Assessment and Surveillance Unit Coordinator,
Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, WHO
Multicentre Growth Reference Study Project Coordinator
News Conference 2:
WHERE: UN Secretariat, New York, Press Conference Room S-226
WHEN: 1100 EDT, Thursday, 27 April, 2006
WHO: Dr. Cutberto Garza
Director, UNU Food and Nutrition Program
Chair, Multicentre Growth Reference Study
Academic Vice President, Boston College
(UNICEF rep - TBA)
Interviews:
Pre-arranged one-on-one interviews: via phone or ISDN line: please contact communication officers to arrange exclusive phone interviews.
Online Media centre: www.who.int/nutrition/media_page
Copies of the main WHO Child Growth Standards charts under embargo in .pdf format will be available as of today at the website.
For password please contact communication officers.
Also available online:
Fact sheets:
- What are the new WHO Child Growth Standards?
- What impact will the new Child Growth Standards have?
- Infant and young child feeding: the facts
- Malnutrition: the facts
Related links
For more information contact:
Sharad Agarwal
Communications officer
Nutrition for Health and Development, WHO/HQ
Geneva
Telephone: +41 22 791 19 05
Mobile phone: +41 79 509 06 86
E-mail: agarwals@who.int
Jane McElligott
Communications Adviser, Noncommunicable diseases and Mental Health, WHO/HQ
Geneva
Telephone: +41 22 791 33 53
Mobile phone: +41 79 477 17 40
E-mail: mcelligottj@who.int
Terry Collins
United Nations University,Office of the Rector
For North American or Asian media
Telephone: +1 416 538 8712
Telephone: +1 416-878 8712
E-mail: terrycollins@rogers.com
Alyson McColl
GMMB
For North American or Asian media
Telephone: +1 202 572 2807
E-mail: Alyson.McColl@gmmb.com