ICMR wants to develop India-specific growth reference standards for kids. Why this is important

New Delhi: Last month, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Indias apex medical research body called for expressions of interest to carry out a multi-centric research project to devise Indias first country-specific child growth reference standard...

The ICMRs exercise is being conducted amid concerns that the standards India uses currently from the World Health Organization-Multicentre Growth Reference Study (WHO-MGRS) are inaccurate in the Indian context..

As a result, Indias diverse population and factors like socio-economic disparities necessitate exploring India-specific growth references, she said.. Applying global standards might misjudge child health, leading to inaccurate diagnoses and interventions, Sikka said, adding that tailoring references to local contexts could improve child health monitoring and interventions, ensuring optimal growth for all Indian children...

These will be healthy women, according to predefined criteria, to be finalised during protocol development, with accurate pregnancy dating done by ultrasonography and willing to comply with study requirements needed to ensure no constraints to growth environment, the document says.. The second one will be a cross-sectional study where data is collected from many different individuals at a single point in time for all age brackets starting at 2-3 years of age up to 19 years...

Under this, participants will be selected based on predefined criteria to ensure that they had no constraints to their growth and functional or development outcomes and are not at risk of any discernible metabolic disorders, the document says.. The setting for the research project will include households or schools in urban and rural areas where the children and adolescents are likely to experience an environment conducive to growth and development without known social, educational, and economic constraints, it adds...

You might be interested in