Where the two charts come from, how they differ, and which one fits your child’s age.
Short answer: for children under 2, use the WHO growth charts. From age 2, the CDC charts are the usual choice in the United States. That is the CDC’s own recommendation, endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The WHO charts are a standard: they describe how children grow when conditions are good. They come from the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study (1997–2003), which followed about 8,400 children in Brazil, Ghana, India, Norway, Oman and the United States. The babies were breastfed, their mothers did not smoke, and their families could meet their basic health needs.
The CDC 2000 charts are a reference: they describe how children in the United States actually grew in national surveys between the 1960s and the 1990s, when many babies were formula-fed. They cover ages 0 to 20.
The difference shows up in infancy. Breastfed babies tend to gain weight quickly in the first months and more slowly after about 3 to 4 months. On the CDC chart that slowdown can look like a baby “falling off” their curve; on the WHO chart, which was built from breastfed babies, the same baby usually tracks normally. That is one reason the CDC switched its recommendation for under-2s to WHO.
Cut-offs differ too. On WHO charts for children under 2, the CDC suggests looking more closely below the 2.3rd or above the 97.7th percentile. On CDC charts for older children, the 5th and 95th percentiles are the usual lines.
If your pediatrician uses one chart and an app shows another, the percentiles can differ by several points for the same measurement. Neither is wrong; compare a child with themselves on the same chart over time.
In Growthling you can switch between the WHO standard (birth to 5 years) and the CDC infant charts (birth to 36 months) on each child’s chart, and the free percentile calculator offers both.
Sources: WHO Child Growth Standards; WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study; CDC, “Use of World Health Organization and CDC Growth Charts for Children Aged 0–59 Months in the United States” (MMWR, 2010). This article is general information, not medical advice.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult your pediatrician about your child's growth and development.
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