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Friday, Feb. 25, 2022

Are the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics ‘quietly’ changing the developmental milestones for children?

Courtney Kealy, Lead Stories

no

A social media post implies something perhaps nefarious by saying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics "quietly" changed developmental milestones for young children — checkpoints that chart children's progress as they grow.

But according to a senior CDC spokesperson, the organizations publicly announced reasons for changes on the CDC website and social media. AAP journal Pediatrics published a peer-reviewed article detailing the revision process.

The CDC's "Learn the Signs. Act Early" program, funded by AAP, convened experts to make the changes. They used milestones that about 75% of children from 2 months to 5 years old would meet. One goal was to try to preclude doctors and parents from taking a "wait and see" approach.

The changes were not done "quietly," and, "The changes were not related to the pandemic," said Belsie Gonzalez, a senior public affairs specialist at the CDC.

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