World Vision Wins Two Anthem Awards for Innovative Laser Device for Measuring Child Growth

By Diane Baik, Senior Technical Advisor for Nutrition, Health and Nutrition

World Vision has been recognised with two international Anthem Awards for our pioneering research in child growth measurement technology. We received both the Silver Anthem Award and the Anthem Community Voice Award in the Responsible Technology category – the first awarded by the expert judges of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and the second voted on by the public.

Winning these awards is not only an honour, but also a clear affirmation that both global leaders and the public believe in and champion the impact of World Vision’s innovative efforts to improve children’s health and nutrition.

About the Anthem Awards

Launched in 2021 by the Webby Awards, the Anthem Awards celebrate purpose-driven work that makes a measurable impact on society. They honour individuals, companies, and organisations across seven major causes, from health and education to sustainability and responsible technology.

Being recognised alongside leading global organisations highlights World Vision’s commitment to using technology ethically and effectively to improve children’s well-being.

Innovation in Measuring Child Height and Length

Accurate growth measurement is essential for assessing children’s nutrition, identifying and referring malnourished children early, and monitoring healthy growth. Measuring a child’s height or length is especially important for detecting wasting (acute malnutrition) and stunting (chronic malnutrition).

However, measuring children’s height or length accurately can be surprisingly challenging:

• Young children, especially those under two years, often move or resist being measured.
• Reading tape measurements precisely in the field can be difficult.
• Traditional wooden height boards are bulky, heavy, and expensive – around USD 500 each.
• Locally made boards are often lower quality and prone to warping after one to two years.

Even with design improvements, existing tools often fail to meet the required standards for accuracy and precision in real-world conditions, typically achieving less than 99% accuracy and precision compared to reference measurements.

World Vision and Magpie Tech: Co-creating a Solution

To solve these challenges, World Vision partnered with Magpie Tech Inc., a company with patented triple-laser technology. Together, we co-designed a laser device that transforms how children’s height and length are measured.

This new device is:

• Lightweight, compact, and durable
• Easy to transport and use
• Faster to measure
• Low-cost compared to existing boards
• Comparable in accuracy and precision to the traditional wooden height board

The device was tested in the field by frontline health workers during a national growth monitoring census in Viet Nam and showed promising results in real-world conditions.

A Milestone Many Years in the Making

Receiving two Anthem Awards is a proud moment for World Vision – and a testament to eight years of scoping and partnership-building with the right technology collaborator and to secure funding, followed by three years of turning that vision into reality through research, development, and implementation.

This recognition underscores our commitment to leveraging responsible innovation to strengthen child health and nutrition systems. With partners like Magpie Tech, we’re advancing solutions that make it easier for health workers to prevent and detect undernutrition early – helping every child grow up healthy and thrive.

Acknowledging Our Partners and Contributors

This achievement was made possible through the collaboration and dedication of many partners.

We extend our heartfelt appreciation to World Vision Korea and World Vision Canada for funding the innovation research and design input; World Vision Viet Nam for their technical leadership and for making the research possible in real field contexts; and to the Viet Nam field staff from Da Bac, Dakrong, Huong Hoa, and Minh Long districts whose tireless efforts made data collection and coordination possible.

We also thank the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) for their expert input into research design and data analysis, Magpie Tech Inc. for their cutting-edge technology and openness to co-developing the product, and World Vision International for its leadership and persistence over 11 years in driving the design, development, and implementation of this innovation.

Finally, our deepest gratitude goes to the children and caregivers who generously gave their time to participate in the research – your involvement made this innovation possible and ensures that future tools will better serve families and communities worldwide.

What’s Next?

As we move from research to real-world implementation, World Vision and Magpie are now scoping for USD 50,000 to produce the final production mould, a crucial step toward mass manufacturing the laser device so it can be used widely by health workers around the world.

With this final step, we aim to make accurate, affordable, and easy-to-use height measurement tools available everywhere – helping millions of children benefit from early detection and treatment of malnutrition. Please contact Diane Baik for more information.

Learn more about the Laser Height Measuring Device research and about World Vision's work in nutrition.