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METHODS OF GROWTH ASSESSMENT

Anthropometry is the most commonly used method to assess growth in children. Anthropometry is a widely used, inexpensive and non-invasive measure of the general nutritional status of an individual or a population group. Anthropometry is the study of human height, weight and the size of different body parts, and how those measurements vary under certain circumstances.
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Various anthroprometric measurements used to assess growth in children include;

Weight. Height ( or length in Infants). Mid arm circumference. Head and Chest Circumferences.

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Assessment of growth may be;

Longitudinal or Cross-sectional.

Longitudinal assessment of growth means measuring the same child at regular intervals, which provides valuable data about a childs progress. Cross-sectional assessment are also essential to compare a childs growth with that of his peers.
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The Building Blocks of Anthropometry

The four building blocks or measures used to undertake anthropometric assessment are

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Each of these variables provides one piece of information about a person. When they are used together they can provide important information about a persons nutritional status. The actual measurement of age, weight and height of children requires specific equipment and techniques. When two of these variables are used together they are called an index. Three indices are commonly used in 3/21/12 DEPT OF COMMUNITY 66

Weight-for-age; Height-for-age; Weight-for-height.

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Weight-for-age: Low weight-for-age index identifies the condition of being underweight, for a specific age. The advantage of this index is that it reflects both past (chronic) and/or present (acute) undernutrition (although it is unable to distinguish between the two).

Most commonly used in our setting.

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Height-for-age: Low height-for-age index identifies past undernutrition or chronic malnutrition. It cannot measure short term changes in malnutrition. For children below 2 years of age, the term is length-forage; above 2 years of age, the index is referred to as height-for-age. Deficits in length-for-age or heightfor-age is referred to as stunting.
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Weight-for-height: Low weight-forheight helps to identify children suffering from current or acute undernutrition or wasting. Weightfor-length (in children under 2 years of age) or weight-for-height (in children over 2 years of age) is appropriate for examining short-term effects such as seasonal changes in food supply or short-term nutritional stress brought about by illness.
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Weight-for-age:

Measurement of weight & rate of gain in weight are the best single parameters for assessing physical growth. A single weight record only indicates the childs size at the moment, it does not give any information about whether a childs weight is increasing, stationary or declining. What is important is careful repeated measurement at intervals, ideally
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Monthly from Birth to 1 year.

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By comparing the measurements with reference standards of weight of children of the same age, the trend of growth becomes obvious. This is best done on growth chart. Serial weighing is also useful to interpret the progress of growth when the age of child is not known. Thus without the aid of a growth chart, it is virtually impossible to detect changes in the rate of growth, such as sudden loss of weight or halt 3/21/12 DEPT OF COMMUNITY 1212 in gain.

Average birth weight in India varies between 2.7 -2.9 kg. The Indian infant manages to grow well up to the age of 3-4 months, even at the expense of its malnourished mother. Thereafter, the growth falters (pause or temporary inactivity) due to lack of supplementary feeding.
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Healthy babies, on an average double their birth weight by 5 months and, Treble it by the end of first year and, Quadruple by the age of 2 years.

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During 1st year, weight increases by about 7 kg. After that the increase in weight is not so fast- only about 2.5 kg during 2nd year and From then until puberty by about 2 kg per year.

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