To assess the proportion of children being stunted and underweight-for-age at 3, 9 and 15 months in Lambaréné, Gabon, using the WHO child growth standards released in 2006 as compared with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2000 and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) 1978 child growth charts/references.

Prospective birth cohort in Lambaréné, Gabon.

Two hundred and eighty-nine children from birth to 15 months of age.

Weight and length were recorded at 3, 9 and 15 months. Corresponding Z scores for stunting and underweight-for-age were calculated for the three different standards/references. Children with a height-for-age or weight-for-age below –2 sd of the corresponding reference median (Z score ≤−2) were classified as stunted or underweight-for-age, respectively.

With the new WHO 2006 standards a higher proportion (4·0 %) of 3-month-old infants were underweight compared with the CDC (1·0 %) or the NCHS (0·7 %) child growth charts/references. In contrast to the NCHS references or the CDC charts, this proportion did not increase from 3 to 9 months or from 9 to 15 months. The proportion of children being stunted was highest (above 20 %) with the WHO 2006 standards at all three ages. Again, in contrast to the old standards, this proportion did not increase from 3 to 9 months or from 9 to 15 months.

The present results show considerably different growth faltering patterns for Gabonese children depending on the growth charts used to assess the prevalence of stunting and underweight. Shifting to the new WHO child growth standards may have important implications for child health programmes.