They are a powerful visual tool to assess a child’s growth based on various readings such as height, weight, age or body mass index. The WHO growth charts are the growth standards which consider the optimal condition to determine normal growth. These growth charts assume that the growth pattern of infants and toddlers is fairly comparable all over the world. The disaggregation has the advantage of allowing for State-wise measurement of stunting based on more localised benchmarks. Thirdly, continuous evaluation of growth charts is essential for further improvement due to rapid socio-economic changes, such as in Korea, where national growth charts are revised nearly every ten years.

Source: The Hindu March 30, 2023 07:29 UTC