Abstract
Pediatricians typically use Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2000 growth charts as reference tools to monitor and assess infant health and nutritional status. The World Health Organization 2006 growth charts, defined as a global growth standard, have been proposed for this use. To date, there are no longitudinal, prospective published data analyses for US and Canadian infants to evaluate the impact of adopting the World Health Organization charts. Because interventions are often driven by interpretation of weight percentiles, healthcare professionals need to be aware that the adoption of the World Health Organization 2006 growth charts may result in differences in infant weight categorization. The World Health Organization 2006 growth charts also include a body mass index chart for infants. Body mass index provides a reference used worldwide for classifying weight status in the older child and adult. However, it is not clear whether the body mass index chart is an appropriate screening tool to define infants younger than 2 years at risk for overweight and/or obesity.