I am looking at the WHO website info at the URL Camilla McCauley so kindly
posted to the list, and under frequently asked questions there are only two.
When will the the new growth standards be released?  And, will the standards
be applicable to all children?

The answer to the second question is, and I am quoting verbatim from the
website now, 
The standards describe normal child growth from birth to five years under
optimal environmental conditions and can be applied to children everywhere,
regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status and type of feeding.

I gather from some of the posts in the last couple of days that there are
competing growth charts in use in the US.  Correct me if I am mistaken.
Here, I expect the new charts to be put into use immediately.  We have only
one kind of growth chart in use at the moment, and every child in the
country is tracked on them, through the well child care system.  There are
no company logos on the growth charts nor on any of the forms used in the
health records in this system, but I have seen a wall calendar from a
manufacturer of baby food at my local well child clinic.  

These charts do not purport to simply show how children grow on average.
Support was provided to mothers whose children were followed, to enable them
to breastfeed exclusively for 6 months, and the goal was to show how
children ought to grow under the best possible conditions.  Instead of
children being compared to standards derived from a whole lot of haphazardly
nourished children, they will be compared to standards derived from ideal
normal nutrition, which starts with exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months.  

I am hoping to learn about the different kinds of weaning foods that are
added in the different communitites in which data were gathered.  Children
are supposed to get iron-fortified cereal here at 6 months.  This is adhered
to without question by nearly all the families I know of, even recent
immigrants.  Pretty much every product on the market has added sugar AND
powdered milk!  Sort of like feeding them cake batter without the eggs.  In
Denmark they get mashed potatoes first.  I've heard that French children are
weaned right onto multiple course meals.  

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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