Growth monitoring is the regular measurement of a child's size (weight, height or length and head circumference) in order to document growth. The child's size measurements must then be plotted on a growth chart. This is extremely important as it can detect early changes in a child's growth.
The goal of nutritional assessment in childhood is to prevent nutritional disorders and the increased morbidity and mortality that accompany them. To meet this goal, pediatric clinicians must know the risk factors for obesity and protein energy malnutrition and must understand the normal and abnormal patterns of growth and the changes in body composition during childhood and adolescence.
Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) mellitus are on the increase in children and adolescents. An increase in T2D is linked to the increasing rates of obesity in children. Usually, in both children and adults, T1D is treated with insulin while T2D is treated with metformin. There are other classes of drugs that are under assessment for their safety and efficacy in relation to pediatric patients. Most of these new drugs, however, have not been studied in children.
Whether your child has genes causing weight gain or he is obese simply from eating too much unhealthful food, lifestyle changes are key factors in long-term weight loss. This includes dietary improvements and increased physical activity.But weight loss is not always the goal when treating excessive weight in childhood. In some cases, especially with young children, a child can “grow into” his weight by maintaining his weight as he grows taller. In older teenagers with a higher body mass index (BMI), weight loss might become a treatment goal, as the rate of growth slows.
The thyroid gland is located at the front of the neck, just below the Adam’s apple. It is responsible for the rate of all metabolic and chemical processes in our body, and affects every cell, tissue, and organ. The thyroid gland is therefore essential for life, growth and development.Children with thyroid conditions are generally managed by a paediatric endocrinologist or a paediatrician in consultation with a paediatric endocrinologist.
Puberty includes rapid growth of bones and muscles, changes in body shape and size, and development of the body's ability to reproduce.The cause of precocious puberty often can't be found. Rarely, certain conditions, such as infections, hormone disorders, tumors, brain abnormalities or injuries, may cause precocious puberty. Treatment for precocious puberty typically includes medication to delay further development.
Precocious puberty has most commonly been defined as the onset of puberty before the age of 8 yr in girls and before the age of 9 yr in boys. It involves not only early physical changes of puberty, but also linear growth acceleration and acceleration of bone maturation, which leads to early epiphyseal fusion and short adult height. Precocious puberty can be true or GnRH-dependent puberty, or it can be peripheral or GnRH-independent puberty.
Short stature is a general term for people whose height is considerably below average compared to the height of their peers. While it can apply to adults, the term is more commonly used to refer to children.A child can be significantly shorter than their friends and still be perfectly healthy. This is particularly true if both parents are also shorter than average. Genetics is a major determinant of height.