# WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS) Study · id `maternal:who-mgrs` · 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. The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations. Also called: MGRS Browse, life stage: Infant follow-up Browse, care area: The baby's first year ## In plain language A study in six countries of healthy breastfed children's growth. The study followed children from birth to 24 months and also measured a separate group aged 18 to 71 months. Its data were used to build the Child Growth Standards. ## Technical summary Design paper abstract (Food and Nutrition Bulletin, March 2004): a community-based, multicountry project to develop growth references, with a longitudinal study from birth to 24 months and a cross-sectional study of children aged 18 to 71 months in Brazil, Ghana, India, Norway, Oman and the United States, about 8,500 children in the pooled sample. Inclusion criteria and the 21 home visits are in the claim on this page. The tool page says the Child Growth Standards were developed using data collected in this study. No registry record was found or searched for, so there are no registry dates or statuses, and the abstract gives no study dates. No results are recorded here: the standards paper has its own page. ## Key facts - Design: Community-based, multicountry; a longitudinal study from birth to 24 months combined with a cross-sectional study of children aged 18 to 71 months (PubMed abstract). - Phase: Not reported - Enrolled: 8500 children (the abstract gives about 8,500 for the pooled sample) (unknown count; The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology, snapshot `maternal:pubmed-15069916-2026-10-15`, retrieved 2026-10-15) - Started: Not reported - Primary completion: Not reported - Completion: Not reported - Countries: Brazil; Ghana; India; Norway; Oman; United States (The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology, snapshot `maternal:pubmed-15069916-2026-10-15`, retrieved 2026-10-15) - Care setting: Community-based; mothers and newborns were enrolled at birth and visited at home in the longitudinal study. (The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology, snapshot `maternal:pubmed-15069916-2026-10-15`, retrieved 2026-10-15) - Registry status: Not reported ## Claims, with the population each applies to ## Context: Children in the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study (six countries) Recipient: Child; Population: Healthy children from six countries: a longitudinal sample followed from birth to 24 months and a cross-sectional sample of children aged 18 to 71 months, about 8,500 children in the pooled sample.; Care setting: Community-based; mothers and newborns were screened and enrolled at birth and visited at home in the longitudinal study.; Geography: Brazil, Ghana, India, Norway, Oman and the United States; Life stage: Birth to 24 months (longitudinal) and 18 to 71 months (cross-sectional); Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Longitudinal study: 21 home visits from birth to 24 months, at weeks 1, 2, 4 and 6, monthly from 2 to 12 months, and every 2 months in the second year. ### The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS) is a community-based, multicountry project to develop growth references for infants and young children. Its design combines a longitudinal study from birth to 24 months with a cross-sectional study of children aged 18 to 71 months. The pooled sample from six countries (Brazil, Ghana, India, Norway, Oman and the United States) is about 8,500 children. Individual inclusion criteria were absence of health or environmental constraints on growth, adherence to MGRS feeding recommendations, absence of maternal smoking, single term birth and absence of significant morbidity. In the longitudinal study, mothers and newborns were enrolled at birth and visited at home 21 times. The authors expect the approach to establish the breastfed infant as the normative model for growth and development. - Category: Description - Evidence stage: Observational - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Child; Population: Healthy children from six countries: a longitudinal sample followed from birth to 24 months and a cross-sectional sample of children aged 18 to 71 months, about 8,500 children in the pooled sample.; Care setting: Community-based; mothers and newborns were screened and enrolled at birth and visited at home in the longitudinal study.; Geography: Brazil, Ghana, India, Norway, Oman and the United States; Life stage: Birth to 24 months (longitudinal) and 18 to 71 months (cross-sectional); Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Longitudinal study: 21 home visits from birth to 24 months, at weeks 1, 2, 4 and 6, monthly from 2 to 12 months, and every 2 months in the second year. - Limitations: Only the PubMed abstract was read; the full text was not. This is a design and methods paper from 2004, so it reports no growth results. The sample size is given as about 8,500, and the abstract does not say how many children were in each of the two studies. The abstract says the study subpopulations had socioeconomic conditions favourable to growth and low mobility, so the sample describes growth under those conditions. - Last checked: 2026-10-15 - Sources: 1. Supports: The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin, March 2004 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 1, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f5fa306c2ca497d13a1dd82513173f6bb3969bfdfc2b254c641ee08b0350b14d. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 2. Supports: The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin, March 2004 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 1, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f5fa306c2ca497d13a1dd82513173f6bb3969bfdfc2b254c641ee08b0350b14d. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 3. Supports: The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin, March 2004 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f5fa306c2ca497d13a1dd82513173f6bb3969bfdfc2b254c641ee08b0350b14d. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 4. Supports: The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin, March 2004 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 3. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f5fa306c2ca497d13a1dd82513173f6bb3969bfdfc2b254c641ee08b0350b14d. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 5. Background: The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin, March 2004 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 4, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f5fa306c2ca497d13a1dd82513173f6bb3969bfdfc2b254c641ee08b0350b14d. How it applies: PubMed abstract (context for the claim). 6. Background: The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin, March 2004 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 4, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f5fa306c2ca497d13a1dd82513173f6bb3969bfdfc2b254c641ee08b0350b14d. How it applies: PubMed abstract (context for the claim). 7. Supports: The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin, March 2004 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 5, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f5fa306c2ca497d13a1dd82513173f6bb3969bfdfc2b254c641ee08b0350b14d. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 8. Supports: The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin, March 2004 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 5, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f5fa306c2ca497d13a1dd82513173f6bb3969bfdfc2b254c641ee08b0350b14d. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 9. Supports: The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin, March 2004 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 6, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f5fa306c2ca497d13a1dd82513173f6bb3969bfdfc2b254c641ee08b0350b14d. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 10. Supports: The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin, March 2004 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 6, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f5fa306c2ca497d13a1dd82513173f6bb3969bfdfc2b254c641ee08b0350b14d. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 11. Background: The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin, March 2004 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 8, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f5fa306c2ca497d13a1dd82513173f6bb3969bfdfc2b254c641ee08b0350b14d. How it applies: PubMed abstract (context for the claim). 12. Supports: The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. Published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin, March 2004 (PubMed gives the month only, so the source has no day-level publication date). The full text was not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, sentence 8, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-15T13:48:54Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: f5fa306c2ca497d13a1dd82513173f6bb3969bfdfc2b254c641ee08b0350b14d. How it applies: PubMed abstract. ## Connected pages - Collected the growth data behind the WHO charts: Infant growth monitoring (`maternal:infant-growth-monitoring`) - The standards built from this study's data are described in the 2006 paper: WHO Child Growth Standards based on length/height, weight and age (2006 paper) (`maternal:pub-who-2006-child-growth-standards`) ## Provenance Content hash: 0320167431917c6c247985ecb2221fd70768c1eb8a49b930d0578985bb76756c Last substantive edit: 2026-10-15 Evidence last checked: 2026-10-15