Parenting
Weight is a direct measure of the recent nutritional status of infants and young children, through which it can reflect the efficiency of nutrient intake and utilization by infants and young children.
In order to ensure accurate measurement, we need to take off clothes, shoes, hats, diapers and other items after the infant has an empty stomach and defecation and use a special infant scale for measurement.
Length reflects the bone growth of infants and young children, and is also an important indicator to evaluate the long-term nutritional status of infants and young children.
When measuring, the infant needs to lie on his back on the measuring bed, keep his whole body straight, and touch the top of his head on the measuring bed. The measurer should press the infant's knees with his left hand so that the lower limbs are straight and close together and close to the bottom plate of the measuring bed. Next, push the measuring plate with your right hand so that the skateboard fits snugly against the sole of the baby's foot, and make sure that the measurements at both ends of the measuring plate are consistent, and then read the value.
Head circumference is an important indicator for assessing brain development in infants and young children. Rapid or slow growth in head circumference may indicate an abnormality.
When measuring, we use a soft ruler to start from the arch of the baby's two eyebrows, and place the zero point of the ruler on the midpoint of the line connecting the arch of the eyebrows. Then, wrap the ruler horizontally along the eyebrows towards the back of the baby's head, find the occipital tubercle at the back of the head (the highest point at the back of the head), bypass the midpoint of this tubercle, and circle it back around the forebrain. Finally, overlap the soft rulers and cross them, and the number at the intersection is the baby's head circumference.
Physical measurements. In order to comprehensively evaluate the growth and development of infants and young children, we also need to compare the height, weight, BMI and other indicators of infants and young children with the reference population of the same sex and age, and calculate the corresponding Z-score. A z-score between -2SD and +2SD is considered a normal range, while a z-score below -2SD indicates a relative delay in growth and development that requires further evaluation and attention. These evaluation criteria only apply to children under 5 years of age, but the evaluation criteria vary for infants and toddlers of different ages and genders. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly perform physical measurements and analyses of infants and young children. This can help us identify and address potential nutritional issues in a timely manner, ensuring that infants and young children receive adequate nutritional support to promote their healthy growth and development.
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