Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The India Child Growth Standards Research Initiative, titled UNNATI, is a national study aimed at developing India-specific growth and development standards for children from birth to 24 months of age.
Conducted by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the study seeks to provide accurate and representative data for assessing the physical and neurodevelopmental growth of Indian children.
Currently, the growth and development of children are assessed using the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards established over 20 years ago through the Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS). However, these standards are based mainly on data from South Delhi, which experts argue do not reflect India’s diverse population and living conditions.
To address this gap, the UNNATI study will collect data from six regions across India: Delhi, Indore, Pune, Bengaluru, Purulia, and Shillong — representing the country’s geographical and cultural diversity.
In Indore, the project is being conducted under the guidance of chief medical and health officer, Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani. Pregnant women with less than 37 weeks of gestation, no major medical complications and plans to reside in Indore for the next three years are being invited to participate.
Over a period of 3.5 years, infants born in the study will be monitored for growth parameters like weight, length, and head circumference, and their neurodevelopment will be assessed using the WHO-GSED (Global Scale for Early Development) tool. The findings will help establish Indian-specific growth and neurodevelopmental charts, strengthening child healthcare and guiding future health policies.
