Growth charts for babies

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7505.1399

BMJ 2005;330:1399-1400 (18 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7505.1399

Editorial

Growth charts for babies

New WHO charts are based on breast fed babies from rich andpoor countries

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Are the growth charts that we currently use inaccurate? Recentpress reports about new growth charts from the World HealthOrganization imply that they are, particularly for breast fedbabies. These charts are an exciting development, but are ourcurrent charts really as inadequate as the press would haveus believe?

The first widely used growth reference in the United Kingdomwas produced nearly 40 years ago,¹ followed by the chart fromthe National Center for Health Statistics in the United States,²which has been used ever since as WHO's international standard.These established the value of plotting measurements on growthcharts in order to properly assess growth and nutritional status.However, problems with their accuracy were recognised 20 yearsago; the growth of breast fed and formula fed infants, whenplotted on either chart, rose steadily in the first few weeksand then fell by around one centile . . . [Full text of this article]

Charlotte M Wright, senior lecturer

Department of Child Health, Glasgow University PEACH Unit, QMH Tower, Yorkhill Hospitals, Glasgow G3 8SJ
(charlotte.wright@clinmed.gla.ac.uk)

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