WHO Releases New Child Growth Charts

May 4, 2006 -- The World Health Organization has released new standards for normal health and growth in children up to age five. For the first time, the standards include a body mass index for this age group; they also outline when children should hit development milestones such as sitting, standing, and walking; as well as lowered their standard for baby obesity. To determine what is considered normal, WHO used information from more than 8,000 children from eight countries, including America, who were breast-fed and received good medical care, and whose mothers did not smoke.

By the new standards, more children from America and Europe could be considered overweight because they are more often fed using formula. Breast-fed children often weigh less than children fed with formula.

The Institute of Medicine and National Research Council report, Children's Health, the Nation's Wealth: Assessing and Improving Child Health, proposes a conceptual model and issues a framework for developing a system for measurement of children’s health in America. The IOM report, Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance examines the social, environmental, medical, and dietary factors responsible for the increase in childhood obesity in America.

• Children's Health, the Nation's Wealth: Assessing and Improving Child Health (2004)
• Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance (2005)

• WHO Child Growth Standards