The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY) confirms the importance of precise descriptions of children's health status through a methodology that has long been standard for adults. Viewing children and youth within the context of their environment and development continuum, the ICF-CY applies classification codes to hundreds of bodily functions and structures, activities and participation, and various environmental factors that restrict or allow young people to function in an array of every day activities.

Capturing rapid growth and changes

The rapid growth and changes that occur in first two decades of life were not sufficiently captured in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), the precursor to the ICF-CY. The launch of the ICF-CY addresses this important developmental period with greater detail. Its new standardized coding system will assist clinicians, educators, researchers, administrators, policy makers and parents to document and measure the important growth, health and development characteristics of children and youth.

Environmental factors

Children who are chronically hungry, thirsty or insecure, for example, are often not healthy and have trouble learning and developing normally. This classification provides a way to capture the impacts of the physical and social environment so that these can be addressed through social policy, health care and education systems to improve children's well-being.

"The ICF-CY will help us get past simple diagnostic labels. It will ground the picture of children and youth functioning and disability on a continuum within the context of their everyday life and activities. In this way it enables the accurate and constructive description of children's health and identifies the areas where care, assistance and policy change are most eeded," said Ros Madden, Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, and, Chair of the Functioning and Disability Reference Group of the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC) Network.

Implications of a global standard

The ICF-CY has important implications globally for research, standard setting and mobilizing resources. "For the first time, we now have a tool that enables us to track and compare the health of children and youth between countries and over time," said Nenad Kostanjsek of WHO's Measurement and Health Information team. "The ICF-CY will allow countries and the nternational community to take informed action to improve children's health, education and rights, by treating their health as a function of the environment that adults provide."

The classification also covers developmental delay. Children who achieve certain milestones later than their peers may be at increased risk of disability. Using this classification, health practitioners, parents and teachers can describe these delays precisely in order to plan for health and educational needs and frame policy debates.

For further information, please contact:

Nenad Kostanjsek, Technical Officer, WHO, Geneva, Tel.:  +41 22 791 3242, Fax: +41 22 791 4894, E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Lina Reinders, Communications Officer, WHO, Geneva, Tel.: +41 22 791 1828, Fax: +41 22 791 1967, E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it