A child’s growth is assessed by measuring his/her weight, length (for a child up to 2 years), and height (for a child >2 years age).
To know if your child is growing well, your doctor will check your child’s weight, length/height, and compare with that expected for age and gender of the child.
To do this the doctor will use growth charts.
Growth Chart A growth chart is a simple graph in which your child’s body parameters are plotted at the age at which the measurement is done.
The growth chart is utilized to maintain longitudinal record of a child’s growth parameters.
It helps to track the growth of children from birth through adolescence to adulthood.
On the growth chart, curves of normal growth have been drawn based on measurements of thousands of normal children.
As expected, there is variation in height and weight among normal children.
Plotting on a growth chart helps us to decide if a child’s growth parameters fall within the normal range or not.
A healthy child will have the growth parameters [weight, length/height, and body mass index (BMI)] within the highest and the lowest curve expected for the age and sex.
If a child’s parameter is above the 97th centile or below the 3rd centile line on the growth chart, it indicates that the child’s parameter is below/beyond what is seen in nearly 94% children of his/her age. These children should be evaluated for a possible growth problem.
An even better assessment of your child’s growth can be made by a serial recording of growth parameters Your doctor can also assess and plot if the child’s weight is appropriate for his height.
This is done by plotting on a weight for height chart for children up to 5 years age, and on a BMI chart for older children.
Dr Vishal Parmar
Consultant Pediatrician
Wockhardt Hospitals, Mira Road
To book an appointment call: +918108101104
