Ghanaian infant growth study.

The future revised WHO growth references for infancy and early childhood will have an international basis rather than just an American one, as is the case with the current NCHS/WHO ones. The anthropometric data for analysis will be collected from babies breastfed in accordance with WHO guidelines. An important stipulation, however, is that their growth must have been unrestricted by environmental factors. A paper from Ghana describes a quantitative provisional study that has revealed how such a condition can be satisfied within a developing country. Family income and especially the higher education of the father up to university level can still be important variables in the achievement of optimal growth of babies, even those brought up in situations of relative affluence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]