WHO vs. CDC Growth Charts
WHO stands for the World Health Organization, “The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health.” (form Wikipedia).
CDC stands for the Center for Disease Prevention and Control, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the leading national public health institute of the United States. ” (from Wikipedia).
Great! Two organizations are looking out for public health. However, a point of confusion for parents is that they both have their own Growth Standards and publish their own set of Growth Charts. How do you know which ones to use?
If you are feeling adventurous, then check out this report from the CDC and this article in the Journal of Nutrition. It basically comes down to the following:
- Children aged 0 – 24 months, use the WHO Growth Charts
- Children aged 2 – 5 years old, use the CDC Growth Charts
Among several considerations on which this decision was based, one of the key recognitions is that it is because breastfeeding is the recommended standard for infant feeding. The WHO growth charts were 100% constructed from data of babies who were breastfed for 12 months and were predominantly breastfed for at least 4 months. Another reason was that when the CDC growth charts were created, there was a scarcity in data for the first several months of age.
