Tracking Infant Growth

Question 1

what measurements are routinely collected for all children by the health visitor?

Answer 1

weight
head circumference
length
height
BMI

Question 2

which biological variables show a normal distribution amongst children?

Answer 2

BP
plasma sodium
protein intake
Haemoglobin

Question 3

which figures are not used when accounting for distribution?

Answer 3

mode
minimum and maximum

Question 4

what statistics would be most useful to work out a normal BMI?

Answer 4

median
inter quartile range -25th to 75th centile
2nd and 98th centile

Question 5

how is a growth chart plotted?

Answer 5

-made from a series of cross sectional samples of measurements from children at different ages
-constructed mathematically joining dots between key points at each age

Question 6

how are growth charts constructed?

Answer 6

by collecting samples of data at each age and gender from hundreds of healthy children

Question 7

what does the +2 and -2 standard deviation cover?

Answer 7

95% of population

Question 8

what does it mean if a child has a height on the 25th centile?

Answer 8

out of 100 healthy children of the same age and gender ;
75 will be taller
25 will be shorter
child is within the normal range but below average height

Question 9

what does the ideal growth chart contain?

Answer 9

-be based on healthy, breast fed infants as the physiological norm
-demonstrate how healthy children should grow
-should be living in reasonable conditions ect housing

Question 10

how can you judge if measurement is normal?

Answer 10

Plotting on a growth chart

• Looking at change in measurements over time
• Calculating body mass index
• Assessing growth over time

Question 11

How are height and weight tracked?

Answer 11

-both weight and height tend to track within one centile space

Question 12

why does weight commonly vary over short term in pre-school years?

Answer 12

due to illness

Question 13

why can height show a wide variation?

Answer 13

due to measurement error

Question 14

what are some healthy influences of height?

Answer 14

genetics
polygenic inheritance
growth rate (eg someone may grow at a later stage and some earlier)

Question 15

what are some unhealthy influences of height?

Answer 15

severe chronic illness
high dose steroids eg
chromosomal anomalies (ed Down syndrome)
turner syndome
hormone deficiencies
chronic undernutrition

Question 16

how do most children height compare to the mid-parental centile chart?

Answer 16

-most children are within +/- two centile spaces of the mid-parental centile
-only 1 percent more than three centile spaces below
-most still have no treatable cause for their short stature
-a child can be growing abnormally and still be within mid parental height

Question 17

what is a healthy BMI for children?

Answer 17

-13% above 98th percentile for BMI
-5% above the 985th percentile for height

Question 18

what are the pros and cons of creating new updated charts?

Answer 18

-would redefine overweight children as normal
-normal isn’t always healthy