State of the art of growth standards

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Growth Assessment
• Child Health Monitoring
• Developmental Biology

Background:

• Growth charts are universal tools for assessing child health and development.
• Modern growth references evolved from 19th-century applications of technology and mathematics to growth biology.
• Contemporary standards have replaced historical concepts of idealized human form and developmental milestones.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the World Health Organization (WHO) growth charts published in 2006.
• To explain the rationale behind creating prescriptive growth standards based on optimal feeding practices.
• To contextualize the development of WHO growth standards within the historical search for human biological ideals.

Main Methods:

• The study discusses the historical development of growth charting methodologies.
• It references the application of technology, mathematics, and biology in creating growth references.
• The abstract implies a review of the scientific basis for the WHO growth standards.

Main Results:

• The WHO growth charts represent a global standard for child growth, informed by the best feeding advice available.
• These standards are the result of a long-standing scientific pursuit of an ideal human growth model based on 20th-century biology.
• The charts reflect a prescriptive standard aiming for optimal child development worldwide.

Conclusions:

• WHO growth standards are considered the best available based on current feeding recommendations.
• These standards are provisional due to the inherent plasticity of biological growth processes.
• Child growth trajectories are flexible and influenced by epigenetic, nutritional, and environmental factors.