Siva Bharathi, P (2007) Reference Standards of Anthropometric Measurements for Children 0-2 Years Age, of an Urban set up. Masters thesis, Madras Medical College, Chennai.
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Substantial reductions in the mortality of infancy and early childhood have been achieved throughout the world in recent decades. Unfortunately, this achievement has not been accompanied always by a corresponding improvement in the level of health of surviving children. A major reason for this paradox is the failure to balance the advances in therapeutic care with effective measures for disease prevention. Despite considerable progress in the application of medical technology at the local level, simple and tested methods of health promotion are not being applied systematically on a widespread scale (3). This results more often from lack of technical guidance and motivation than from a deficiency of material resources. The systematic use of growth charts in maternal and child health care is a specific example, which will help to promote health in children. The growth chart offers a simple and inexpensive means of monitoring child health and nutritional status in local health services and can be utilized with minimal instruction and supervision. The chart represents a convenient means of organizing and presenting basic health data and permits the assessment of current status as well as the observation of trends in growth performance(3). It facilitates the classification of nutritional status and thus provides an objective basis for decision-making in relation to care. The precise criteria that are used to interpret growth chart data and to define the levels of care required must, however, be determined on the basis of local needs, resources and service patterns. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: To construct percentile charts for various anthropometric measurements (weight, length, head circumference, chest circumference, & mid arm circumference) for 0-2yrs age group children and comparing them with NCHS standards. DISCUSSION: India is a signatory of millennium developmental goals (MDG) by 2020 and marches towards the achievement of goals. Health planners and policy makers allocate resources towards health care based on the infant, maternal mortality rates. Inspite of generous allocation of funds neonatal mortality rate and low birth weight in India are still at a very high level. This puts a question mark over the ability of our country MDG by 2020. To achieve this goal health planning is important. The purpose of this study is to facilitate the health planner through classification of nutritional status and thus providing an objective basis for decision-making in relation to care. The precise criteria that are used to interpret growth chart data and to define the levels of care requirements must be based on local needs, resources and service patterns. Increase in body size is a biological phenomenon that can be readily observed and easily measured, even under the simplest conditions. In man, the patterns of physical growth in an individual or community are the result of genetic characteristics and environmental influences, among which infectious disease and dietary intake are of particular importance in the developing areas of world. For this reason, the measurement and interpretation of growth in childhood has become one of the most widespread instruments for the assessment of individual and community health and nutritional status. The frequency with which this type of measurement is used has given rise to a wide variety of systems for recording and interpreting data, ranging from complex research grids incorporating several variables to simple charts indicating weight-for-age. CONCLUSION: 1. The 50th percentile values for weight, length, head circumference were comparatively lower than the western standards. 2. The use of western standards set unattainable goal and overestimate degree of under nutrition among children. 3. The use of local standards on regional basis avoids overestimate of under nutrition. 4. Continuous efforts to collect data for growth parameters in a nation wide approach should be made to provide for assessment of optimal growth potential. 5. It is recommended to use the growth charts developed from this study for the Chennai population to monitor the growth pattern and to identify the children who are really undernourished.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
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| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Reference Standards ; Anthropometric Measurements ; Children 0-2 Years Age ; Urban set up |
| Subjects: | MEDICAL > Paediatrics |
| Depositing User: | Ravindran C |
| Date Deposited: | 30 Apr 2018 07:09 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Apr 2018 07:09 |
| URI: | http://repository-tnmgrmu.ac.in/id/eprint/7371 |
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