title: Longitudinal growth of infants in Qatar: comparison with WHO and CDC growth standards.
abstract: Longitudinal growth data for infants in Qatar were compared to growth standards published by the CDC and WHO. 300 randomly selected full-term normal infants (150 males, 150 females) in Qatar were followed-up and weight and length were sequentially recorded at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 12 months and 18 months age. The mean length for age of girls was higher than those published by the CDC and WHO at 12 and 18 months of age.  Using the CDC standard for weight for length detected more wasted infants (9.0% and 6.5%) compared to using WHO standards (6.27% and 6.0%) for males and females, respectively. When WHO and CDC standards are compared, more infants were identified as overweight when the former were used. The WHO standards are preferable because they are based on a leaner breastfed reference and because overweight is likely to be a greater problem in Qatar in the future.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Hamad Medical Center, HMC, Doha, Qatar. ATSOLIMAN@yahoo.com
authors: Ashraf
authors: A
authors: Soliman
authors: Mohamed
authors: M
authors: Eldabbagh
authors: Hany
authors: H
authors: Khalafallah
authors: Maryam
authors: M
authors: Alali
authors: Rania K
authors: RK
authors: Elalaily
mesh_terms: D002487:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.; D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D057238:Growth Charts; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011780:Qatar; D012016:Reference Values; D014481:United States; D014944:World Health Organization