Practices of growth assessment in children: Is anthropometric measurement important?

  • Jose RL Batubara
Keywords: Practices of growth assessment, children, anthropometric measurement

Abstract

Assessing and monitoring growth is
common practice in pediatric care, and
health professionals accept routine growth
monitoring in children as a standard
component of community child health services
throughout the world. In clinical level, by these
activities one can detect and intervene while growth
faltering happens. The internationally recommended
way to assess malnutrition at population level is to take
anthropometric measurements. In developed
countries, growth monitoring is an intrinsic part of
‘well child’ clinics. As growth is a proxy for child
health, the child who grows well is generally healthy
and illness in a child is usually associated with poor
growth. Interpretation of child growth is based on
anthropometric indicators established in a reference
population with cut-off points to differentiate under-
and overnutrition, short stature or tall stature,
proportionate or disproportionate growth. Practices
of growth monitoring consist of regularly measuring
the weight and height of children, then plotting the
information on a growth chart to make abnormal
growth visible. When growth is abnormal, the health
worker does something in concert with the family and
as a result of these actions the child receives
appropriate social or medical support, his or her
nutrition improves, or a serious condition is diagnosed
earlier.

Author Biography

Jose RL Batubara
Pediatric Endocrinology Division, Department of Child Health,
Medical School, University of Indonesia.

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Published
2016-10-10
How to Cite
1.
Batubara J. Practices of growth assessment in children: Is anthropometric measurement important?. PI [Internet]. 10Oct.2016 [cited 23Dec.2024];45(4):145-3. Available from: https://paediatricaindonesiana.org/index.php/paediatrica-indonesiana/article/view/821
Section
Review Article
Received 2016-10-06
Accepted 2016-10-06
Published 2016-10-10