title: The objectives, design and implementation of the INTERGROWTH-21st Project.
abstract: INTERGROWTH-21(st) is a multicentre, multiethnic, population-based project, being conducted in eight geographical areas (Brazil, China, India, Italy, Kenya, Oman, UK and USA), with technical support from four global specialised units, to study growth, health and nutrition from early pregnancy to infancy. It aims to produce prescriptive growth standards, which conceptually extend the World Health Organization (WHO) Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS) to cover fetal and newborn life. The new international standards will describe: (1) fetal growth assessed by clinical and ultrasound measures; (2) postnatal growth of term and preterm infants up to 2 years of age; and (3) the relationship between birthweight, length and head circumference, gestational age and perinatal outcomes. As the project has selected healthy cohorts with no obvious risk factors for intrauterine growth restriction, these standards will describe how all fetuses and newborns should grow, as opposed to traditional charts that describe how some have grown at a given place and time. These growth patterns will be related to morbidity and mortality to identify levels of perinatal risk. Additional aims include phenotypic characterisation of the preterm and impaired fetal growth syndromes and development of a prediction model, based on multiple ultrasound measurements, to estimate gestational age for use in pregnant women without access to early/frequent antenatal care.
authors.affiliation: Nuffield Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and Oxford Maternal & Perinatal Health Institute, Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK Centre for Statistics in Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK Ketkar Nursing Home, Nagpur, India Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saúde e Comportamento, Universidade Católica de Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brazil Programa de Pós-Graduação em Epidemiologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brazil Faculty of Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya Department of Family & Community Health, Ministry of Health, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman Dipartimento di Scienze Pediatriche e dell'Adolescenza, Cattedra di Neonatologia, Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino, Italy University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA Division of Women & Child Health, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Villar
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Altman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Purwar
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Noble
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ruyan
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheikh Ismail
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Barros
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Papageorghiou
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Y A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Jaffer
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bertino
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Gravett
authors.forename: Z A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Bhutta
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kennedy
mesh_terms: D001837:Body Weights and Measures / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D002657:Child Development; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D005865:Gestational Age; D057238:Growth Charts; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight / Q000254:growth & development; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000254:growth & development*; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000254:growth & development; D008137:Longitudinal Studies / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D011247:Pregnancy; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000209:etiology; D039401:Prenatal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012107:Research Design; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal
keywords: Fetal; INTERGROWTH-21st; growth; newborn; nutrition; preterm; standards