ABSTRACT
The aim of this retrospective, cross-sectional study was to compare the 1977 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the 2006 World Health Organization (WHO) growth standards to determine the nutritional status of children attending the pediatric outpatient clinic at a university hospital in Alagoas, Brazil. We reviewed 252 hospital charts of children younger than 24 months and determined the height-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-height using the two standards. The sample was of low socioeconomic level and exclusively or predominantly breastfed children. TheZ-scores for both standards indicated that the children in this sample were healthy, but the WHO standard was more sensitive for the detection of growth limitations in the first 6 months of life.
