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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
09:36

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

Health of children classified as underweight by CDC reference but normal by WHO standard

Alan Meyers1, Katherine Joyce, Sharon M Coleman

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA 02118, USA. afmeyers@bu.edu

Pediatrics
|May 22, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Children classified as underweight by CDC 2000 but normal by WHO 2006 standards still face higher risks of adverse health outcomes. This highlights the importance of considering growth chart differences in pediatric health assessments.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Growth Monitoring
  • Nutritional Assessment

Background:

  • Pediatric growth references are crucial for identifying nutritional status.
  • Discrepancies exist between different growth standards, impacting classification.
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2000 and World Health Organization (WHO) 2006 standards differ in defining underweight.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate health status in children classified as underweight by CDC 2000 but normal by WHO 2006 standards.
  • To compare health outcomes across different underweight classification groups.
  • To understand the clinical implications of using different growth references.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study involving 18,420 children aged 6-24 months across 7 US cities.
  • Children categorized based on CDC 2000 and WHO 2006 underweight criteria.
  • Health outcomes assessed via caregiver ratings, developmental status, and hospitalization history.
  • Multiple logistic regression used to analyze associations between categories and outcomes.

Main Results:

  • Children underweight by CDC 2000 but not WHO 2006 showed significantly higher odds of adverse health outcomes.
  • Children underweight by both criteria exhibited the highest odds of poor health.
  • Adjusted odds ratios for fair/poor health rating were 2.54 (CDC only) and 3.76 (both criteria) compared to not underweight.

Conclusions:

  • Reclassification from underweight (CDC 2000) to normal weight (WHO 2006) does not eliminate associated health risks.
  • Children may experience morbidities linked to underweight even when meeting newer growth standards.
  • Clinical vigilance is necessary when interpreting growth data across different standards.
Abstract

Keywords:
growth chartgrowth referencegrowth standardundernutritionunderweight

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