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

Alison L Park1,2, Karen Tu2,3, Joel G Ray1,2,3,4

  • 1Keenan Research Centre, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology
|July 11, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Canadian children under age 2 are longer and heavier than WHO growth standards. These findings highlight potential differences in child growth patterns and require further investigation.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Child Health
  • Growth Standards

Background:

  • Assessing deviations from World Health Organization Child Growth Standards (WHO-CGS) in healthy Canadian children.
  • Evaluating postnatal growth up to two years of age in Ontario, Canada.
  • Investigating the influence of infant feeding practices and ethnicity on growth patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if healthy Canadian children in Ontario exhibit growth patterns that differ from WHO-CGS up to age 2.
  • To analyze these potential differences in relation to infant feeding and maternal ethnicity.
  • To provide updated growth data for Canadian children.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from 9964 healthy singleton births in Ontario, Canada.
  • Generated smoothed percentile curves for weight, length, and Body Mass Index (BMI) using quantile regression.
  • Compared percentile values of the Canadian cohort against WHO-CGS.

Main Results:

  • Canadian children under 2 were consistently longer than WHO-CGS across percentiles.
  • Weight and BMI percentiles for Canadian children surpassed WHO-CGS after 6 and 9 months, respectively.
  • Significant weight discrepancies were observed, particularly in males, with variations noted by maternal birthplace and ethnicity.

Conclusions:

  • Healthy Canadian infants and toddlers demonstrate greater length and weight compared to WHO-CGS.
  • Observed growth differences suggest a need for updated or regionally specific growth references.
  • Further research is required to understand the underlying factors contributing to these observed growth discrepancies.
Abstract

Keywords:
WHOgrowth chartgrowth standardgrowth standardsinfant and child growthlengthpercentilesweight

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