Some parents often ask how to evaluate their child’s growth and development, and others ask whether their child is developing normally and so on. First of all, you should know that the growth and development of children includes two major parts, one is physical development, and the other is neuropsychological development (commonly known as intellectual development), when both development is normal, it can be called a healthy child.
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. Every parent often weighs their children, but what is the practical significance of weight for children? How is it evaluated?
Body weight is the total weight of the body organs, tissues and fluids. It is a timely reflection of 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. Just born newborns due to more sleep and less food, breathing, skin evaporation and urine and stool discharge lead to weight loss, this situation is medically known as physiological weight loss, in the 3-4 days after birth weight loss nadir, generally not more than 7% to 8% of the birth weight, and then gradually increase, 25 to 30 grams per day, 7 to 10 days to recover to the birth weight. At full term, the weight should increase by 600 to 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 of age. after 2 years of age 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 year of life. For example, a child’s length at birth is 50 cm and grows by about 25 cm in a year; at age 1, it is about 75 cm and grows by about 10 cm in the second year, and then increases by an average of 5 to 7 cm per year through adolescence.
If an infant’s weight and length increase regularly, this is one of the signs of good health. When a child’s weight and length do not grow regularly, it means that he or she may be fed improperly, may be over-nourished when overweight, and may grow slowly or not because of poor food quality or diseases (such as pneumonia, diarrhea, and other diseases) that affect the child’s physical development, and the cause should be actively investigated and measures taken.