Baby Growth Charts To Be Revised: Is Your Baby A Healthy Weight?

Filed in archive News on May 8, 2006

Thank you to My Mom's Best for discovering an important medical story: it seems those baby growth charts we've relied on for years are actually detrimental to our children's health, as a result of choosing too high a weight for 'normal' development.

It seems the old charts were based on babies who were formula fed. Now researchers are pushing the benefits of breast feeding, partly because children who breast feed gain less weight.

The study has shown that the current system pitches target weights too high.

Current charts suggest a healthy one-year-old weighs between 22.5lb (10.2kg) and 28.5lb (12.93kg), when in fact the true healthy weight is 21lb (9.53kg) to 26lb (11.79kg).

There has already been pressure to switch to charts based on breast-fed babies.

The WHO already recommends that mothers breast-feed their children, stating that it provides all of the nutrients a child needs.

Whether you choose to breast or formula feed your baby, this is certainly important news, as early excessive weight gain in babies has been linked to the future development of diabetes.

(Photo Source: Breastfeeding.com)