Regular Health Check Ups: Ensuring Your Child's Growth and Development

Essential Practice: Monitoring Growth Development of the Child

Why is it Vital?

The Ministry of Health stresses that regular growth monitoring for children begins from birth. Parents or caregivers are encouraged to:

• Att routine growth monitoring and promotion sessions GMP regularly to ensure proper child development.

• Take newborns for GMP screenings every month during their first year.

• A healthy child should consistently gn weight monthly. If not, seek immediate medical attention as it indicates a potential issue that needs urgent treatment.

• Atting these appointments enables detection of nutritional deficiencies like severe thinness or swelling early and provides prompt advice accordingly.

Benefits

Monitoring a child's growth helps in:

1. Identifying early signs of health issues by tracking weight gn which is crucial for their well-being.

2. Checking if the child is experiencing rapid weight gn out of proportion to height, necessitating further examination for overweight conditions.

3. Adjusting dietary advice based on the child’s diet and identifying potential nutritional deficiencies or excesses.

A growth chart documents a child's development agnst age norms, showing proper progression. Regular weight measurements are plotted as points which are then connected by lines.

When a child fls to gn adequate weight over time, it could indicate:

• Need for larger portions

• Inclusion of more nutritious food

• More frequent meals

Or suggest sickness or inadequate care in feeding practices.

Children should grow and gn weight at a fast pace until age 2. Frequent weigh-ins are essential during this period.

YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH MONITORING YOUR CHILD'S GROWTH? SHARE

Resources

Explore Our Work

Nutrition Programme

Report

Community Infant Young Child Feeding Counselling Pack

Key Practice: Infant Feeding During Sickness

Appropriate Feeding for Faster Healing

The Infants Young Child Feeding with Special Focus on HIVA

Question and Answer Guide

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