Omar Karlsson

Postdoctoral fellow

Should India adopt a country-specific growth reference to measure undernutrition among its children?

Author

S.V. Subramanian
Anuradha Khailkar
Omar Karlsson

Summary, in English

The 2006 World Health Organization (WHO) growth standard—based on the Multi Growth Reference Study (MGRS)—is a universal standard for healthy height and weight of young children. The share of children that deviate substantially from this growth standard (i.e., fall below −2 standard deviations) defines three important indicators: stunting (low height-for-age), wasting (low weight-for-height), and underweight (low weight-for-age). These three indicators are most often used to assess prevalence of different forms of undernutrition in a population. The prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight based on the MGRS are used to set international (e.g., Sustainable Development Goals) and national (e.g., POSHAN Abhiyaan in India) targets and guide substantial allocation of resources for reducing child undernutrition.

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