Differences in growth of Canadian children compared to the WHO 2006 Child Growth Standards

Park, Alison L.; Tu, Karen; Ray, Joel G.

doi:10.1111/ppe.12377

Cited by 11 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Whether this approach is appropriate for all people has been controversially discussed and a number of studies report national deviations from the WHO standards. For example, regardless of feeding practice, weights of Canadian children differed significantly for children with mothers of European ancestry compared with those with mothers of Asian/Pacific or South Asian heritage [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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WHO child growth standards for Pygmies: one size fits all?

Funk

Guerra

Ickowitz

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Background African Pygmies exhibit a unique, genetically determined child growth dynamics and adult stature but the impact on assessing undernutrition remains unknown. Baka Pygmy health is highly compromised compared to sympatric populations. Evaluating child undernutrition is an important step to address this health quandry. We estimate stunting and wasting in Cameroon´s Baka children and investigate the applicability of the standards for Pygmy people.Methods Anthropometric and health data from 685 2-to12 year old children were collected at 25 health centres in southern Cameroon. Growth was analysed using both, WHO Child Growth Standards and the population itself as reference to define frequencies of stunting, wasting and obesity.Findings Baka children revealed with 68.4% the highest recorded level globally of stunting relative to the WHO child growth standard in 2-to-4 year olds. Wasting was at 8.2% in the upper third range in Sub-Saharan Africa.Obesity was with 6.5% similar to wasting, but no comparable data have been published for Sub-Saharan Africa. When referenced to the Baka population itself, values for stunting were dramatically lower at 1.0% and 2.9% for 2-to-4and 5-to-12 year olds, respectively. Wasting was also lower at 2.8% and 1.8% and was exceeded by obesity at 3.4% and 3.5%, respectively. Brachial perimeters and oedemas indicated rare severe malnutrition (< 2%) whilst moderate and severe anaemia were frequent (26.6% and 3.3%, respectively).Interpretation WHO child growth standards for stunting are clearly not applicable to Pygmies thus contradicting the widespread emphasis of their ethnicity-independent applicability. The inferred values for wasting and obesity are also difficult to interpret and are likely overestimated by the WHO criteria.To achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals and to fulfil our humanitarian responsibility for fellow man, we recommend that Pygmy specific growth standards are developed for the genetically differing Pygmy tribes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite these clear differences, the WHO and others e.g. a recent editorial discussing the observed differences in Canadian children [9], claim that the WHO standards are adequate and "suitable for everyone" [14]. The justification for this claim is based on two premises.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

WHO child growth standards for Pygmies: one size fits all?

Funk

Guerra

Ickowitz

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…In this issue of Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, Park and colleagues describe a large survey that is reasonably representative of the Canadian Ontario population. Their data comprise routine health clinic measurements in 9964 healthy singleton term‐born infants.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Secondly, we should remember that longitudinal growth data are far more informative than ‘achieved growth’ at any one age (cross‐sectional data). Park and colleagues describe only cross‐sectional comparisons, but they will hopefully make further use of their rich longitudinal dataset. For example when the UK adopted the WHO 2006 growth charts, we predicted a substantial 75%–90% reduction in the number of infants who would be classified as having poor weight gain.…”

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confidence: 99%

WHOGrowth Standards – Suitable for Everyone? Yes

Ong

2017

Paediatric Perinatal Epid

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“…Since 2006, more than 50 studies have assessed whether the WHO growth charts fit the local growth of apparently healthy children better than national charts . In this issue of Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology , Park and colleagues, on behalf of the Canadian Curves Consortium, report their comparison of the growth of a large sample of apparently healthy Canadian children according to the WHO growth standards. This is a very comprehensive study that describes with accuracy how percentiles of weight, height, and BMI differ from the WHO growth standards percentiles, at very closely spaced time points, between birth and 2 years.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%