# WHO Child Growth Standards

Technology · id `maternal:who-child-growth-standards` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `c7fb95f1d15a7d13` (public)

> General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here.

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Browse, life stage: Infant follow-up  
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## In plain language

The WHO growth charts for children from birth to 5 years. They show how healthy children grow when they are breastfed and raised in conditions that do not hold growth back. CDC advises US clinicians to use them for children younger than 24 months.

## Technical summary

Percentile and z-score curves for boys and girls aged 0 to 60 months for weight-for-age, length/height-for-age, weight-for-length/height and body mass index-for-age, published in 2006 and built from the sample of a multicountry growth study. The WHO tool page presents the standards, documentation and training tools. Growth standards describe growth of healthy children under optimal conditions; the CDC growth charts are a growth reference, describing how certain children grew in a particular place and time (CDC 2010). This record is an addition to the plan's list so that the CDC recommendation has a technology to point at.

## Claims, with the population each applies to

## Context: Children younger than 24 months in the United States (CDC 2010 growth chart advice)

Recipient: Child; Population: Children in the United States younger than 24 months, for whom CDC advised the 2006 WHO growth charts. The same advice keeps the CDC growth charts for people aged 2 to 19 years, who are outside this context.; Care setting: Clinical settings in the United States where clinicians assess growth (the abstract addresses clinicians).; Geography: United States (CDC advice for US clinicians); Life stage: Infants and toddlers, from birth to younger than 24 months; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (advice about which growth charts to use)

### In its 2010 recommendations for clinicians in the United States, CDC advised using the 2006 WHO international growth charts, rather than the CDC growth charts, for children younger than 24 months, and keeping the CDC growth charts for people aged 2 to 19 years. The advice rests partly on the recognition that breastfeeding is the recommended standard for infant feeding. CDC advised that, when the WHO charts are used to screen for possibly abnormal growth, the 2.3rd and 97.7th percentiles (or 2 standard deviations) be used rather than the 5th and 95th. CDC also noted that fewer US children will be identified as underweight with the WHO charts, that slower growth among breastfed infants at ages 3 to 18 months is normal, and that weight gain faster than the WHO charts indicate might signal early signs of overweight.

- Category: Recommendation
- Evidence stage: Guidance
- Certainty: Certainty not assessed
- Applies to: Recipient: Child; Population: Children in the United States younger than 24 months, for whom CDC advised the 2006 WHO growth charts. The same advice keeps the CDC growth charts for people aged 2 to 19 years, who are outside this context.; Care setting: Clinical settings in the United States where clinicians assess growth (the abstract addresses clinicians).; Geography: United States (CDC advice for US clinicians); Life stage: Infants and toddlers, from birth to younger than 24 months; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (advice about which growth charts to use)
- Limitations: Only the PubMed abstract of the MMWR report was read; the report itself was not (cdc.gov returns HTTP 403 to scripts, per the plan's host checks). PubMed links a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep. 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number and was not read, so the source is marked corrected; a published correction exists and whether it changes this claim is not known. The advice is from 2010 and is for clinicians in the United States; whether CDC has changed it since was not checked. The abstract says CDC based the advice on input from an expert panel convened in 2006 by CDC, the National Institutes of Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
- Last checked: 2026-10-15
- Source problem: a cited source is corrected. Check the sources before relying on this claim.
- Sources:
  1. Supports: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: Abstract, sentence 6, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  2. Supports: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: Abstract, sentence 6, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  3. Supports: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: Abstract, sentence 7. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  4. Supports: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: Abstract, sentence 8, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  5. Supports: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: Abstract, sentence 10, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  6. Supports: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: Abstract, sentence 10, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  7. Supports: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: Abstract, sentence 11, fragment 1 of 3. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  8. Supports: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: Abstract, sentence 11, fragment 2 of 3. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  9. Supports: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: Abstract, sentence 11, fragment 3 of 3. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  10. Background: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: Abstract, sentence 3, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract (context for the claim).
  11. Background: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: Abstract, sentence 3, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract (context for the claim).
  12. Background: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: CommentsCorrectionsList, ErratumIn, RefSource. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract (context for the claim).
  13. Background: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: Abstract, sentence 5, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract (context for the claim).
  14. Background: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.) <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20829749/>
     Locator: Abstract, sentence 5, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:53Z. Source state: Corrected. Snapshot hash: 0a80e64e3f31ea2f2929545f783353427095c945b2d79f443d9ddeb790bfc1e7.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract (context for the claim).

## Context: Healthy children aged 0 to 60 months (WHO Child Growth Standards)

Recipient: Child; Population: Boys and girls aged 0 to 60 months. The curves come from healthy breastfed infants and young children raised in environments that do not constrain growth, and the authors say the standards can be used to assess children everywhere.; Care setting: Not stated in the abstract (an international growth study sample).; Geography: International sample (the abstract does not name the countries; the six MGRS countries are on the WHO MGRS page); Life stage: Infants and children from birth to 60 months; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (reference curves, not an intervention trial)

### The WHO Child Growth Standards were derived from an international sample of healthy breastfed infants and young children raised in environments that do not constrain growth. The authors report percentile and z-score curves for boys and girls aged 0 to 60 months for weight-for-age, length/height-for-age, weight-for-length/height and body mass index-for-age. They conclude that the standards depict normal growth under optimal environmental conditions and can be used to assess children everywhere, regardless of ethnicity, socio-economic status and type of feeding. The WHO tool page says the standards were developed using data from the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study.

- Category: Description
- Evidence stage: Evidence synthesis
- Certainty: Certainty not assessed
- Applies to: Recipient: Child; Population: Boys and girls aged 0 to 60 months. The curves come from healthy breastfed infants and young children raised in environments that do not constrain growth, and the authors say the standards can be used to assess children everywhere.; Care setting: Not stated in the abstract (an international growth study sample).; Geography: International sample (the abstract does not name the countries; the six MGRS countries are on the WHO MGRS page); Life stage: Infants and children from birth to 60 months; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (reference curves, not an intervention trial)
- Limitations: Only the PubMed abstract was read; the full text was not. The statement that the standards can be used to assess children everywhere is the authors' own conclusion. The abstract describes how the curves were built; it does not report how well any national population matches them, and CDC's separate advice for the United States is on its own claim. The standards describe how healthy children grow under optimal conditions; they are not a statement of how all children grow.
- Last checked: 2026-10-15
- Sources:
  1. Supports: WHO Child Growth Standards based on length/height, weight and age (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Acta Paediatrica Supplement, April 2006 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2006.tb02378.x>
     Locator: Abstract, METHODS, sentence 1, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: ede64c46502223f7c5d91e9ad7f6ef1e2990d8a44818bc964d65b8a61b594343.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  2. Supports: WHO Child Growth Standards based on length/height, weight and age (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Acta Paediatrica Supplement, April 2006 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2006.tb02378.x>
     Locator: Abstract, METHODS, sentence 1, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: ede64c46502223f7c5d91e9ad7f6ef1e2990d8a44818bc964d65b8a61b594343.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  3. Supports: WHO Child Growth Standards based on length/height, weight and age (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Acta Paediatrica Supplement, April 2006 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2006.tb02378.x>
     Locator: Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 5, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: ede64c46502223f7c5d91e9ad7f6ef1e2990d8a44818bc964d65b8a61b594343.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  4. Supports: WHO Child Growth Standards based on length/height, weight and age (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Acta Paediatrica Supplement, April 2006 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2006.tb02378.x>
     Locator: Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 5, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: ede64c46502223f7c5d91e9ad7f6ef1e2990d8a44818bc964d65b8a61b594343.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  5. Supports: WHO Child Growth Standards based on length/height, weight and age (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Acta Paediatrica Supplement, April 2006 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2006.tb02378.x>
     Locator: Abstract, CONCLUSION, sentence 1, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: ede64c46502223f7c5d91e9ad7f6ef1e2990d8a44818bc964d65b8a61b594343.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  6. Supports: WHO Child Growth Standards based on length/height, weight and age (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Acta Paediatrica Supplement, April 2006 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2006.tb02378.x>
     Locator: Abstract, CONCLUSION, sentence 1, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: ede64c46502223f7c5d91e9ad7f6ef1e2990d8a44818bc964d65b8a61b594343.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract.
  7. Supports: WHO Child Growth Standards (who.int tool page) (Webpage, edition The tool page as shown on 2026-10-15. The page carries no edition date; it links a press release of 27 April 2006.) <https://www.who.int/tools/child-growth-standards>
     Locator: Overview, paragraph 1, sentences 1 and 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:49:52Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f97e12dcb12ed9c44b78a51efc67d090b094545798834faeea2433af45529693.
     How it applies: WHO publication or tool page.
  8. Background: WHO Child Growth Standards based on length/height, weight and age (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Acta Paediatrica Supplement, April 2006 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2006.tb02378.x>
     Locator: AuthorList, collective name. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: ede64c46502223f7c5d91e9ad7f6ef1e2990d8a44818bc964d65b8a61b594343.
     How it applies: PubMed abstract (context for the claim).

## Guidance, authorization and access

### Recommendation `maternal:rec-cdc-2010-who-growth-charts`

- Technology: WHO Child Growth Standards (`maternal:who-child-growth-standards`)
- Direction: Recommended
- Issued by: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (`core:cdc`)
- Guideline record: CDC 2010: use of WHO and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States (`maternal:guideline-cdc-2010-growth-charts`)
- Guideline: Use of World Health Organization and CDC growth charts for children aged 0-59 months in the United States, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. PubMed lists a published erratum (MMWR Recomm Rep 2010 Sep 17;59(36):1184) that has no PubMed number; the correction was not read, so this snapshot is marked corrected.; snapshot `maternal:pubmed-20829749-2026-10-15`
- Jurisdictions: United States; note: United States (advice for clinicians in the United States).
- Strength: Recommended by CDC (MMWR Recommendations and Reports. The abstract words the advice as a CDC recommendation and names no grading scale or certainty rating.)
- Effective: 2010-09-10 (The date in the PubMed record of the MMWR report, 2010 Sep 10. PubMed also lists an erratum that was not read.)
- Supersession: Not checked
- Applies to: Recipient: Child; Population: Children in the United States younger than 24 months, for whom CDC advised the 2006 WHO growth charts. The same advice keeps the CDC growth charts for people aged 2 to 19 years, who are outside this context.; Care setting: Clinical settings in the United States where clinicians assess growth (the abstract addresses clinicians).; Geography: United States (CDC advice for US clinicians); Life stage: Infants and toddlers, from birth to younger than 24 months; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (advice about which growth charts to use)
- Basis: claim `maternal:claim-cdc-2010-who-growth-charts`
- Source problem: a cited source is corrected. Check the sources before relying on this claim.

## Connected pages

- CDC 2010: use the WHO charts for children younger than 24 months in the United States: Infant growth monitoring (`maternal:infant-growth-monitoring`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-cdc-2010-who-growth-charts` and its context]
- Filed under this front: Care programmes and follow-up (`maternal:front-care-programmes-and-follow-up`)

## Provenance

Content hash: c3f1e34d30aed896d81be91d50c2e5a703bdd6de4fb64ec3b0a8df7b42e28adf
Last substantive edit: 2026-10-15
Evidence last checked: 2026-10-15