How do growth charts work

Parents often come in to the office and say, "What percent is she at? Don't focus on the number. Have your pediatrician, family doctor, or nurse practitioner help you understand what the trends are for your baby's growth. Parents, pediatricians, and nurses have been using growth charts since the late s to track growth in infants and children.

The charts were revised back in as data for the first charts from a small study in Ohio didn't accurately reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of our communities. The hallmark of a well-child check is the review of a child's growth.

Growth can be a reflection of a child's overall health, nutrition, or tolerance of possible underlying medical conditions. So understanding what your doctor or nurse practitioner says about your child's growth should be a priority. If your doctor doesn't have a computer in the examination room, ask to see the chart on paper or on a computer in the office. It will not only inform you, I suspect it will delight you to see what your child has done since the last time he was seen.

The human body really is a fine-tuned machine, and growth is simply astounding if you really stop to think of it. It's true your baby will at least double his weight by 6 months and triple it by about 1 year of age.

If you have a challenge understanding how your child is growing or how the growth chart is presented, demand clarification. It's OK if you don't understand the presentation of facts on these grids; have confidence to speak up and ask the doctor or nurse practitioner to explain it.

Predicting of Child's Adults Height. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Please enable scripts and reload this page. Turn on more accessible mode. Turn off more accessible mode. Skip Ribbon Commands. So how do doctors figure out whether kids' height and weight measurements are "healthy"? Whether they're developing on track? Whether any medical problems are affecting growth? Doctors use growth charts to help answer those questions.

Here are some facts about growth charts and what they say about a child's health. Growth charts are a standard part of your child's checkups. They show how kids are growing compared with other kids of the same age and gender. They also show the pattern of kids' height and weight gain over time, and whether they're growing proportionately. Let's say a child was growing along the same pattern until he was 2 years old, then suddenly started growing much more slowly than other kids.

That might mean there is a health problem. Doctors could see that by looking at a growth chart. Not necessarily. Doctors consider the growth charts along with a child's overall well-being, environment, and genetic background. For example:. Girls and boys are measured on different growth charts because they grow in different patterns and at different rates.

And one set of charts is used for babies, from birth to 36 months. La Charite J. Nutrition and growth. The Harriet Lane Handbook. Updated by: Neil K. Editorial team.

Growth chart. Learning a few important facts can make it easier for parents to understand what different measurements mean: Mistakes in measurement can happen, for example if the baby squirms on the scale.

One measurement may not represent the big picture. For example, a toddler may lose weight after a bout of diarrhea, but will likely regain the weight after the illness is gone.

There is a wide range for what is considered "normal. Your child's measurements do not predict whether they will be tall, short, fat, or skinny as an adult. Most states and territories use charts from the US Centers for Disease Control to measure growth and weight in children and adolescents aged 2 to 18 years. Like adults, babies come in all shapes and sizes. The growth charts show this by using 'percentiles'. Some babies will always be small and others will always be large.

The important thing is that they are growing as expected for their percentile. The charts help you track this by showing normal growth curves i.

Your baby will be weighed and measured at birth. After that, repeating the measurements once a month or so is usually enough to track how they are growing. Don't worry if their weight goes up and down from day to day — this is normal.

Babies under 2 years old are usually weighed on a special infant scale newborns will lie down on the scale. It's more accurate to weigh babies with no clothes on until they are 12 months. After they turn 2, they can be measured standing up in light clothes. You baby's head circumference will be measured using a tape measure. If your child was born prematurely, their age needs to be 'corrected' age adjusted to take into account the weeks they are premature by subtracting these from the age from birth on the chart until they turn 2 years old.

Growth charts can actually be used until your child turns Your child health nurse or GP can tell you what other health checks are needed to make sure your child is growing and developing normally. Parents are often worried that their baby isn't growing fast enough.

However, while it's important to measure a child's growth to see if they are healthy and developing properly, it's not the only way to tell if they're healthy. All babies lose some weight in the week after birth and regain this weight by 2 weeks. Most babies double their birth weight by 4 months and triple it by 13 months for boys or 15 months for girls.

Weight gain can be affected by an infection or vomiting. If you are ever worried, talk to your child and family health nurse or GP. If your child's percentile changes significantly - for example, if they drop by 2 percentile lines - then talk to your child and family health nurse or GP.