Hi all 
Heather and Marianne wonder whether artificially fed infants should have
their growth tracked according to a different growth standard from
exclusively breastfed babies.  Heather asks if using the WHO 2007 charts for
artificially fed babes will lead to them being fed larger amounts of
commercial baby milk in the early weeks and having feeds withheld in the
latter week. I hope not but I have no doubts that some health professionals
will think that this is the appropriate response unless governments commit
to providing the training modules to everyone who monitors infant growth.  
However, the WHO is very very explicit about this.  The WHO 2007 growth
charts prescribe how all children should grow in all places, regardless of
how they are fed.  The fact that artificially fed infants grow differently
should be impetus for governments, health care systems and professionals to
lift their game when it comes to the protection and support of
breastfeeding.  Artificially fed infants do not grow differently because
they are getting too little or too much commercial baby milk but because
they are not getting human milk - artificial milks are not capable of
sustaining normal infant growth and development. (They save some lives
sometimes - but they are a compromise.)
The infant formula industry seems quite interested in developing separate
charts for babies who are not exclusively breastfed.  Could this be because
the new growth standards will bring illuminate the health ramifications of
artificial feeding?  I beg that we fight any such efforts; efforts that will
obscure the dangers of routine artificial feeding.
What response should health professionals make when evaluating the growth of
individual artificially fed infants? This is perhaps a question for the WHO
training team.  If I had my druthers, we would dispense with the routine
plotting of growth altogether and only use this tool for kids who are
showing signs of being 'at risk' - a girl can dream!
If you are interested in reading some more about this, have a look at the
article our beloved listmother and I had published earlier this month:
http://tinyurl.com/2fqh34 
Nina Berry
Australia

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