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Alternative methods for assessing growth in children under five years of age
1Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Private Bag 360, Blantyre 3, Malawi.
Insights
This study explored alternative growth assessment methods for children under five. Thoracic and pelvic measurements proved most effective for evaluating child growth, correlating well with weight and age.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Anthropometry
- Child Health
Background:
- Accurate growth assessment is crucial for monitoring child health.
- Traditional methods like weight measurement can be challenging in resource-limited settings.
- There is a need for reliable alternative growth parameters.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify alternative anthropometric measurements for assessing growth in children under five.
- To evaluate the correlation of cephalic, thoracic, and pelvic measurements with weight and age.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study was conducted on healthy Malawian children.
- Cephalic, thoracic, and pelvic measurements and their indices were recorded.
- Statistical analysis was performed to assess correlations with weight and age.
Main Results:
- All measurements showed a significant positive correlation with weight.
- Thoracic and pelvic dimensions exhibited a higher degree of significance compared to cephalic measurements.
- Thoracic circumference, inter-nipple distance, and pelvic circumference demonstrated strong positive correlations with age.
Conclusions:
- Cephalic, thoracic, and pelvic dimensions are reliable indicators of growth in children under five.
- Thoracic and pelvic measurements are the most appropriate alternative methods for growth assessment in this population.
- Measurement indices showed less correlation with age, remaining relatively constant.
Objective:
To establish alternative methods for growth assessment in children under five years of age.
Design:
A cross sectional study of healthy Malawian children.
Setting:
Postnatal wards and under-five clinics at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Ndirande and Chilomoni Health Centres in Blantyre city, Malawi.
Main Outcome Measures:
Cephalic, thoracic and pelvic measurements and their indices were examined for assessment of growth in these children. Thoracic and pelvic measurements were found to be the most appropriate alternative parameters to weight.
Results:
All measurements significantly correlated positively with weight but their indices did not. The degree of significance, however, was higher in pelvic and thoracic dimensions (P = 0.000) than in cephalic ones (P < 0.001 for maximal cephalic length (MCL) and P < 0.022 for maximal cephalic breadth (MCB), respectively. The MCL also showed a high correlation with age (R = 0.842, P = 0.002) but age only correlated moderately with the MCB (R = 0.569). The thoracic circumference (TC) and inter-nipple distance (IND) showed a very high positive correlation with age (R = 0.908, P = 0.005) and R = 0.870, P = 0.001), respectively. Similarly, a high positive correlation was shown with age by pelvic circumference (PC) and inter-spinous distance (ISD), (R = 0.891, P = 0.006 and R= 0.692, P = 0.027), respectively. Whereas the pelvic index positively correlated with age (R = 0.040), cephalic and thoracic indices significantly correlated negatively with age. Skull shapes were dolicocephalic in 43.6% of the children, mesocephalic in 31.1% and branchycephalic in 25.3%, a clear difference from Caucasian children reported earlier by other authors.
Conclusion:
We have established that cephalic, thoracic and pelvic dimensions significantly correlate positively with weight as age does but their indices remained relatively constant. More importantly, thoracic and pelvic measurements were the most appropriate alternative methods for growth assessment in our studied population.