CDC recommends WHO Growth Standards

[Guest guest]

Info you will cheer about!

Dee Kassing

This is some excellent news! The CDC is recommending that physicians use the WHO Growth Standards for ALL BABIES!!!! see this announcement: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5909a1.htm RecommendationsUse of WHO Growth Charts for Children Aged <24 MonthsUse of the 2006 WHO international growth standard for the assessment of growth among all children aged <24 months, regardless of type of feeding, is recommended. (The charts are available at https://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts.) When using the WHO growth charts, values of 2 standard deviations above and below the median, or the 2.3rd and 97.7th percentiles (labeled as the 2nd and 98th percentiles on the growth charts), are recommended for identification of children whose growth might be indicative of adverse health conditions. The rationale for use of the WHO growth charts for this age group includes the following: 1) the

recognition that breastfeeding is the recommended standard for infant feeding and, unlike the CDC charts, the WHO charts reflect growth patterns among children who were predominantly breastfed for at least 4 months and still breastfeeding at age 12 months; 2) clinicians already use growth charts as a standard for normal growth; and 3) the WHO charts are based on a high-quality study, the MGRS.