Growth Charts and their Interpretation course for Dietitians

This session is an introduction to growth charts, and includes information on how to plot measurements and when to become concerned about a child’s growth.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Explain how growth charts are constructed and why we now use the new UK-WHO charts
• Describe good practice in plotting measurements and know how to adjust for prematurity
• Explain how to take into account parents’ heights when estimating adult height
• Calculate body mass index to identify overweight and obesity
• Recognise when patterns of weight gain, height and head circumference are of concern

In this session we cover plotting of growth measurements onto growth charts, when one should become concerned about a child’s weight gain or growth, and definitions of obesity. We then consider some case studies where growth or weight gain are of concern.