Checking Out Child Growth, Height, and Weight Charts

Growth charts are an important way to monitor your child's growth and development and to check he's growing normally. The charts are available on the Internet so you can use them at home. Doctors use growth charts and body mass index (BMI) charts to compare your child's growth with other children in the same age range. These checks form a standard part of your child's medical check ups.

Growth charts are measured out in ‘centiles', which compare the height, weight, or head circumference of an average spread of 100 children at the same age. If your child was born on the 10th centile, that means that he is bigger than 10 per cent of other children and smaller than 90 per cent. These lines give an indication of the rate at which height or weight increase over time for each of these centiles. So if your child is on the 10th centile, he will not only be smaller than a baby on the 90th centile, he'll grow at a slower rate, too. As long as your child is growing along about the same centile line, there's no need for concern. If his weight drops down from one centile line to another (and especially if it drops down by two centile lines) your health visitor may recommend that you get him checked out by the GP (you can find out more about this in the section on examining growth disturbance later in this chapter). But don't worry - even children whose weight tails off usually catch up, and turn out to have nothing wrong with them.

Contact the Child Growth Foundation (020-8995-0257; www.childgrowth foundation.org) for growth charts and instructions on how to use them. Growth charts can be a bit complicated to use because of the detailed information they contain, so here are basic guidelines:

• Use the correct chart for your child's age and sex. You'll find two sets of charts: One for infants (age 0-36 months) and one for children and adolescents (age 2-20 years). Boys and girls use different charts, because they have different growth rates.

• Find your child's age on the bottom of the chart and draw a vertical line from that point on the growth chart.

• Find your child's weight on the right-hand side of the chart and draw a horizontal line from that point on the growth chart.

• Find the point where the two lines meet. Then find the curve closest to that spot, and follow the curve until you find the number that matches your child's statistics.

Growth charts are valuable tools, but don't focus on one reading. The charts are best used over a longer period to find a growth pattern. The growth of children aged between 6 and 18 months tends to fluctuate, but older children tend to follow the growth curve more closely.