title: Growth of Indonesian Infants Compared With World Health Organization Growth Standards.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The ability of the World Health Organization (WHO) growth standards to represent the growth of South East Asian infants has been questioned. The aim of this study was to provide contemporary data on the growth of Indonesian breast-fed and formula-fed infants, compared with the WHO growth standards.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective cohort study of 160 normal healthy infants was undertaken in a suburban area of South Jakarta, Indonesia. Infants from 2 to 6 weeks of age were recruited, and they consumed exclusively either breast milk or infant formula for at least 6 months, with follow-up until 12 months of age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, the infants in the present study were lighter (weight-for-age), were shorter (length-for-age), and had smaller head circumferences (head circumference-for-age) than the average WHO Growth Reference Study population but were of similar proportion (weight-for-length). Compared with the WHO Growth Reference Study, the z scores for weight-for-age, length-for-age, and head circumference-for-age in the Indonesian children fell from birth to 6 weeks of age and then increased until 3 months of age in both the breast-fed and the formula-fed infants. At 6 weeks of age, the weight-for-age z scores fell below -2 standard deviations for 16 (20.5%) breast-fed and 40 (51.3%) formula-fed infants, and the length-for-age z scores fell below -2 standard deviations for 31 (39.7%) breast-fed and 41 (52.6%) formula-fed infants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The WHO growth standards do not reflect the growth of the present cohort of Indonesian infants and may overestimate the levels of underweight and stunted children.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Child Health †Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia ‡Women's and Children's Health Research Institute, University of Adelaide §Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Unit, Royal Children's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Pramita G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Dwipoerwantoro
authors.forename: Muchtaruddin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mansyur
authors.forename: Hanifah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oswari
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Makrides
authors.forename: Geoffrey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cleghorn
authors.forename: Agus
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Firmansyah
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D006257:Head / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007214:Indonesia; D007223:Infant; D041943:Infant Formula; D007228:Infant Nutrition Disorders; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009753:Nutritive Value; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013851:Thinness / Q000175:diagnosis; D014944:World Health Organization