DoH welcomes new report on child growth standards

The Department of Health has welcomed a new report advocating the adoption in the UK of child growth standards set out by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

A paper from the Royal College of Paediatrics and the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and Child Health has called for WHO standards to be applied to British children aged between two weeks and two years old.

Currently, growth charts are largely based on formula-fed babies and are a sign of existing growth patterns, while WHO guidelines are more prescriptive, describing how babies should grow under most favourable conditions, including exclusive breastfeeding.

Dawn Primarolo, public health minister, said: “We are committed to promoting breastfeeding and these new standards will help alleviate mothers’ concerns regarding the difference in growth patterns often observed between breastfed and formula-fed babies.”

She added that the next phase will be the consideration of how to effectively implement these standards, with the use of proper field testing and adequate training.

In May 2007, the DoH launched a new campaign aimed at increasing the number of breastfeeding mothers in England, following information from the Infant Feeding Survey claiming that mothers in disadvantaged communities are less likely to breastfeed their child.