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In the 1977 charts, the infant and child curves for length-for-age and
stature-for-age did not exactly join at the usual junction of 24 to 36
months. This disjunction occurred in part because recumbent length was
obtained from the Fels Longitudinal data set consisting of upper
middle-class infants in Ohio. Stature was from the 1977 NCHS data sets.
When changing from recumbent length to stature in a clinical setting,
usually between 24 and 36 months, there appeared to be a downward shift in
the child's placement on the charts. This could be misinterpreted as
inadequate growth when it is actually an artifact of the 1977 charts.
In the new CDC growth charts, there is no longer a disjunction between
length and stature because the same reference population of children 2 to
3 years of age was measured for both length and height. (Note that the
average difference between recumbent length and stature in national survey
data is approximately 0.8 cm.)
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