Comparison of 2006 WHO Child Growth Standards and 2005 Growth Diagrams of Indonesian Children: Impact on Burden of Malnutrition

Abstract

Background: Child nutritional status needs to be assessed accurately so that early and appropriate management can be carried out. Indonesia has launched child growth standards in 2005, known as Growth Diagrams of Indonesian Children (GDIC), while the WHO 2006 child growth standards (WHO-CGS) is currently use as standards to assess growth of Indonesian children. Aim: This study aims to analyze differences in the interpretation of nutritional status between 2006 WHOCGS and 2005 GDIC. Method: This is a cross sectional study. 1162 children aged 0-60 months in five selected villages in a public health center in East Java, Indonesia were included in this study. Interpretation of growth was categorized into weight-for-age, length/height-for-age, and weight-for-length/height based on two growth assessment standards; 2006 WHO-GCS and 2005 GDIC. Results: 2005 GDIC detected underweight, stunted, wasted, and obese children fewer than the 2006 WHOCGS. There are significant differences in the interpretation of weight-for-age in girls aged 0-50 weeks (p<0.001) and length/height-for-age in children aged 0-60 months (p<0.001). While weight-for-length/ height showed significant differences in boys aged 0-60 months (p=0.008) and aged 6-36 months (p=0.027). Conclusion: 2005 GDIC detects fewer children with malnutrition than 2006 WHO-CGS. The significant difference on interpretation between two growth charts was particularly found in height-for-age.