Children gain weight steadily, leading to overweight without even realizing it. Therefore, it is necessary to control the child's weight at the "appropriate" level to prevent overweight - obesity.

How to evaluate normal weight and height of children?

This is very simple by using 2 tools: scale and ruler. Every month, the mother weighs the child and measures the height on a certain day, before or after eating to get accurate data (note to wear only thin clothes or minus clothes). For children under 24 months old, measure the lying length and from 24 months old and up, measure the standing height. The weight of a full-term, healthy newborn baby at birth is on average about 3,000 grams (3kg).

If the weight is less than 2,500 grams (2.5 kg), the baby is usually premature or has fetal malnutrition (full-term birth but weighs less than 2,500 grams). Therefore, the most important thing for mothers is to realize whether their child is developing normally, or developing differently in one of the two indicators of weight or height, from there, they can come up with a diet suitable for their development needs to prevent early overweight - obesity.

Overweight and obesity in children are increasing.

Normal weight development in children

A healthy, normally developing child who eats enough will gain weight every month. For example: The average weight of a healthy, full-term newborn is about 3,000 grams (3kg); in the first 3 months, the child grows very quickly, gaining 1,000-1,200g/month; in the next 3 months, the child gains 500-600g/month; in the next 6 months, the child only gains 300-400g/month, and at 1 year old, the child weighs 3 times more than when born (about 9-10kg). Children from 2-10 years old gain an average of 2.4 kg/year and can calculate the child's weight using the following formula:

Xn = 9,5 kg 2,4 kg x ( N-1)

(In which: Xn is the child's current weight (kg); 9.5 is the child's weight at 1 year old; 2.4 is the average weight gain in 1 year; N is the child's age in years).

Thus, for a 1 year old child, the weight is:

9,5 kg 2,4 kg x ( N-1) = 9,5 2,4 kg x (1-1) = 9,5kg

For 2 year old children, weight is:

9,5kg 2,4kg x (2-1) = 9,5kg 2,4kg = 11,9kg

Normal growth in children's height

The average length of a newborn is about 50cm, in the first 3 months the baby grows 3-4.5cm/month, in the next 3 months it grows 2-2.5cm/month, in the next 3 months it grows 2cm/month, in the following months it grows 1-1.5cm. When a baby is 1 year old, the length is 1.5 times longer than when he was born (75cm), a 2 year old child is 86-87cm tall (half the height of an adult), a 3 year old child is 95-96cm tall, and children from 4 to 10 years old grow an average of 6.2cm/year.

The average height of children from 2 years old can apply the following formula:

Xc = 95,5 cm 6,2 cm x (N-3)

(In which: Xc is the child's recommended height (cm); 95.5 is the child's height at 3 years old; 6.2 is the average height increase in 1 year; N is the child's age in years)

For example: The average height of a 4-year-old child can be calculated using the following formula:

Xc = 95,5 cm 6,2 cm x (N-3)

Xc is the child's recommended height (cm)

95.5 is the height of a child at 3 years old

6.2 is the average height increase in 1 year

N is the child's age (in years)

For example, for a 4 year old child, the height is:

95,5 cm 6,2 cm x (4-3) = 95,5 cm 6,2 cm x 1 = 101,7 cm

How to detect early children at risk of malnutrition in the community?

A simple way to identify whether a child is developing normally or at risk of malnutrition is to monitor the child's weight and height using a growth chart. After each weighing, the child's weight is placed on the growth chart, we have a point corresponding to the child's age in month, connect the weight point just marked with the weight point of the previous month, continuously like that will have the child's "Health Path".

- A child's steady monthly weight gain is an important sign of a healthy, normally developing child.

- Not gaining weight is a warning sign of poor health and nutrition (risk of malnutrition).

How to detect obesity in children?

For children under 5 years old:

- Children are considered overweight when the weight-for-height index exceeds 2 standard deviations (SD) but does not exceed 3 SD.

- Children are obese when their weight-to-height index exceeds 3 SD.

For children over 5 years old (6-19 years old):

- Children are considered overweight when their BMI for age exceeds 2 SD but does not exceed 3 SD (2SD < BMI for age ≤3 SD);

- Children are considered obese when BMI for age exceeds 3 SD (3 SD < BMI for age).

Note: when a child's BMI for age exceeds 1 SD and has not exceeded 2 SD (1SD < BMI for age ≤2 SD), there is a risk of being overweight. If the child's BMI for age is closer to 2SD, the risk is greater. If there are no timely measures to adjust diet and physical activity, the child will soon become overweight and adversely affect their health.

To determine whether a child is obese, mothers need to know the child's exact weight and height, then use the World Health Organization's 2006 Z-score table for weight/height by age and BMI by age to evaluate according to the above classification threshold.

You can refer to the WHO-2007 classification table of girls' status based on BMI. If you want to know more details, please visit the website of the National Institute of Nutrition:

http://viendinhduong.vn/FileUpload/Documents/01_bmifa_boys_5_19years.pdf

CLASSIFICATION OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS

OF GIRLS 5-19 YEARS OLD BASED ON BMI (WHO-2007)