KUPASONLINE.COM — Parents must know the nutritional status of their children. Nutritional status plays an important role in knowing the growth and development of the baby’s health.
The nutritional status of children is very important for parents to know and observe. From nutritional status, parents can find out how well their baby is growing and developing.
If the nutritional status is not good, the child may experience nutritional disorders or developmental problems. Find out how to measure and read the following results of a child’s nutritional status.
Calculation of Children’s Nutritional Status is Different from Adults
Adults over the age of 18 measure a healthy ideal weight or body mass index (BMI) based on their weight in kilograms and height in meters squared.
These measurements cannot be applied to children. The reason is, the growth process of children is different from adults.
Children under the age of 18 or ages 0-18 continue to experience physical growth and development. For example, when children reach the age of 6 to 9 years, they begin to experience quite rapid physical development.
Children will experience changes in weight, height, and other body sizes as a whole.
Because it continues to experience development, the way to calculate the nutritional status of children is also different from that of adults. Measuring the nutritional status of children by means of body mass index is considered inaccurate.
Indicators for assessing the nutritional status of children
Based on the guidelines from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia in 2017, there are several indicators that are used as a reference for calculating the nutritional status of children. The indicators are as follows:
1. Weight
To measure a child’s nutritional status, doctors can use weight as an indicator. Children’s weight can be used as a measure of the adequacy of micro and macro nutrients.
Unlike height, a child’s weight is more variable. Therefore, if a child experiences a change in weight, this could be a sign of a change in the baby’s nutritional status.
2. Height and Body Length
The next indicator of nutritional status is measuring the child’s height or length. In infants aged 0 to 2 years, nutritional status is measured by body length. While children over 2 years will be measured based on height.
Body height or length is an indicator because the fulfillment of adequate nutrition will support bone growth and increase the child’s height.
If a child experiences slow growth in height or body length, this can be a sign that your child is experiencing nutritional problems.
3. Gender
