CDC’s New Developmental Milestones Spark A Variety of Reactions

The Center for Disease Control recently announced they updated their developmental milestones tracker for young children. The checklist can be found at this link and has the disclaimer that it is not a substitute for a validated screening tool. A research paper was published in The Journal of Pediatrics explaining the process of how these new guidelines were created: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Learn the Signs. Act Early. program, funded the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to convene an expert working group to revise its developmental surveillance checklists. The goals of the group were to identify evidence-informed milestones to include in CDC checklists, clarify when most children can be expected to reach a milestone (to discourage a wait-and-see approach), and support clinical judgment regarding screening between recommended ages.” In addition, the CDC released an app for smartphones related to the developmental milestones.

The milestones have provoked a variety of reactions from people being happy that the milestones have been updated to others being concerned as to the reasoning way. Below are a variety of news reports from around the country that show examples of these reactions.

CBS Boston

For the first time since 2004, the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics is updating its developmental milestones for young children.

Story: https://kptv.tv/3vCV1f4

WPTV Florida: Infants and toddlers should be screened more for developmental delays, according to updated U.S. guidelines released last week.

Channel 9 News Denver: The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics have teamed up to update the list of developmental milestones for kids