Comparison of Under-Nutrition among Children Aged 1-5 Years Using WHO and NCHS Growth Charts

Anthropometric indices are widely used to assess the health and nutritional status of children. National Centre for Health Statistics /World Health Organisation growth reference (NCHS reference) and World Health Organisation (WHO) Growth standards are the two different growth charts used to monitor the growth of under-five children. Since the evaluation of child growth trajectories and the interventions designed to improve child health are highly dependent on the growth charts used, it is important to understand the impact of using the WHO versus the NCHS charts on the assessment of growth and estimates of malnutrition. The objective of this paper was to assess the nutritional status of under-five children based on anthropometry and to compare the under-nutrition rates based on newly developed WHO standards and the older NCHS reference.