Pediatric growth and development includes two major components, one is physical development, and the other is mental development (commonly known as intellectual development), when both are normal development can be called healthy children.
Physical development includes weight, length, head circumference, chest circumference and nearly 10 other items. Among them, weight and length are important indicators. Weight is the most sensitive indicator to observe the physical development of children.
Body weight is the total weight of body organs, tissues and body fluids. It is a timely response to the child’s recent nutritional status and disease. Therefore, it is important to weigh the child regularly. In general, it is best to measure children within 6 months of age once a month, every 3 months from 6 months to 1 year, every 6 months above 1 year, and once a year above 3 years. It is best to use a lever scale to measure weight, check the zero point before measurement, take off the child’s coat, shoes and hat, and try to empty the urine for older children, so that the weighed value is more accurate. Normal newborns are born weighing more than 2500 grams, if less than 2500 grams for low birth weight babies, if equal to or more than 4000 grams for huge babies. At full term, the weight should increase by 600-800 grams. The first year after birth is the period of fastest weight gain. For example, a child with a birth weight of 3 kg will weigh twice as much as at birth at 3 months, about 6 kg, 3 times as much as at birth at 1 year, about 9 kg, and about 4 times as much at 2 years. after 2 years, the average growth is 2 kg per year.
Length (height) is measured from the top of the child’s head to the bottom of the foot. 3 years old and younger are measured in a lying position, so they are called length; after 3 years old, they are measured in an upright position. The length of children under 3 years of age is closely related to nutrition and disease, and after 3 years of age, height is more obviously influenced by race, genetics and environment. Length and short-term nutritional changes are not obvious, but there is a relationship with long-term nutritional status. Length also grows fastest in the first 1-2 years after birth. It increases by an average of 5-7 cm per year from then until puberty.
If the baby’s weight and length grow regularly it is one of the signs of health. When a child’s weight and length do not grow according to a regular pattern, it means that the feeding method may be inappropriate, that there may be excess nutrition when the child is too fat, and that slow growth or no growth may be due to nutritional deficiency or disease, thus affecting the physical development of the child, and measures should be taken to actively find the cause.
Note: The height measurement should be done at the same time, in the same place, by the same measuring person and with the same measuring apparatus, otherwise there will be errors, and generally there is a 1-2 cm difference between the child’s height in the morning and evening.