Worldwide timing of growth faltering: revisiting implications for interventions

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Global Health
• Child Development

Background:

• Child growth faltering is a significant global health concern.
• Previous growth analyses relied on outdated reference standards.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe worldwide child growth-faltering patterns using new World Health Organization (WHO) standards.
• To compare growth patterns with previous reference data.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of anthropometric data (weight-for-age, length/height-for-age, weight-for-length/height z-scores) from 54 countries via the WHO Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition.
• Data aggregated by WHO regions: Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, North Africa and Middle East, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Main Results:

• Weight-for-length/height falters slightly in early infancy, then recovers.
• Weight-for-age shows moderate faltering, reaching approximately -1 z at 24 months.
• Length/height-for-age falters dramatically until 24 months, with slight increases thereafter.

Conclusions:

• Child growth faltering is more pronounced with WHO standards compared to previous analyses.
• Highlights the critical window from pregnancy to two years for interventions.
• Emphasizes the need for interventions like preventing low birth weight and promoting appropriate infant feeding.