WHO Growth Charts for Canada

Background for the WHO Growth Charts for Canada (March 2014 revision)

In March 2014, the first revised set of the WHO Growth Charts for Canada was released and is available at www.whogrowthcharts.ca. The second set of revised charts was released in September 2014 and are available at the same web address.

Set 1 uses centiles 3/15/50/85/97 (roughly −2/−1/0/+1/+2 standard deviations) on all charts, and in addition includes the 99.9^th centile (+3 SD) on the weight-for-length (0–24 months) and BMI-for-age (2–19 years) charts.

Set 2 uses centiles 3/10/25/50/75/90/97 on all charts, substituting the 85^th for the 90^th centile and retaining the 99.9^th centile on the weight-for-length (0–24 months) and BMI-for-age (2–19 years) charts. The 85^th centile was used on the weight-for-length and BMI charts to correspond to the cut-off for obesity in adults.

Both sets of 2014 growth charts remain aligned with the recommendations in the 2010 collaborative statement. A summary of the design changes is available. Resources that support implementation of the WHO Growth Charts for Canada have been updated to reflect the redesigned charts, and links for these can be found below.

CPEG maintains that the increased granularity and more familiar CDC centile selection in Set 2 will allow these charts to be more easily applied to identify growth aberrations, the diagnosis of failure to thrive, and in the interpretation of blood pressure norms.

CPEG believes that it is optimal to have a single source for growth charts nationally and have therefore officially endorsed the 2014 revision to the WHO Growth Charts for Canada, with a preference for the use of Set 2. The CPEG growth charts have therefore been archived. They are available in the members-only section of the CPEG website.

The WHO Growth Charts for Canada (March 2014 revision)

• A ZIP file containing all of the Set 2 charts
• A ZIP file containing all of the Set 1 charts
• Set 2 boys' individual charts:
  
  • Birth to 24 months: length-for-age and weight-for-age
  • Birth to 24 months: head circumference-for age and weight-for-length
  • 2 to 19 years: height-for-age and weight-for-age
  • 2 to 19 years: body mass index (BMI) for age
• Set 2 girls' individual charts:
  
  • Birth to 24 months: length-for-age and weight-for-age
  • Birth to 24 months: head circumference-for-age and weight-for-length
  • 2 to 19 years: height-for-age and weight-for-age
  • 2 to 19 years: body mass index (BMI) for age

A number of additional resources for the WHO Growth Charts for Canada (March 2014 revision)

• WHO Growth Charts Adapted for Canada: Summary of Changes – March 2014
• A Health Professional's Guide for using the WHO Growth Charts for Canada
• WHO Growth Chart Assessment and Counselling — Key Messages and Actions
• WHO Growth Chart Training Modules
• Instructions for Viewing and Printing Growth Charts
• Statistical Methods and Models Manual for the WHO Growth Charts for Canada
• A ZIP file containing the LMS model data used to construct the WHO Growth Charts for Canada, 2014 revision
• Anthropometric calculators for use with the WHO Growth Charts, in addition to CDC Growth Charts and a number of common syndromes:
  
  • AnthroCalc app for Android and iOS
  • Desktop (Microsoft Excel) versions
• Apps for plotting heights and weights for boys and girls ages birth to 19 years, ideal for making growth charts for PowerPoint presentations:
  
  • Browser-based web apps
  • GrowthPlot app for Android
• Shiny apps for calculating growth centiles and Z-scores and for plotting individual or composite growth data