Growth Assessment in Infants and Toddlers Using Three Different Reference Charts

Abstract

More children aged < or =24 months will be defined as at risk of undernutrition and fewer at risk of overnutrition when using weight-for-age or percent ideal body weight and the CDC growth charts compared with the NCHS or Tanner growth charts. As a result, requests for a more detailed nutritional assessment for undernutrition will likely follow implementation of the CDC growth charts in a tertiary care setting. As the CDC, NCHS and Tanner growth charts are growth "references" rather than "standards," other than for screening purposes, they should not be used in isolation when assessing growth and nutritional status.