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[An index for childhood nutrition--"chung-hsin" index]
1Department of Pediatrics, Taipei Municipal Chung-Hsin Hospital, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Insights
A new nutritional index, the Chung-Hsin Index, accurately assesses child growth and development. This index is suitable for children under three months and up to 15 years old, unlike Kaup's Index.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Nutritional Science
- Biometrics
Context:
- Accurate nutritional assessment is vital for monitoring child growth and development.
- Existing indices like Kaup's Index have limitations, particularly for infants under three months.
- A need exists for a reliable nutritional index applicable across a wide age range.
Purpose:
- To introduce and evaluate the "Chung-Hsin Index," a novel nutritional index for assessing children's growth.
- To compare the efficacy of the Chung-Hsin Index against Kaup's Index, especially in infants.
- To determine the suitability of the Chung-Hsin Index for evaluating body weight and height balance in children from infancy to adolescence.
Summary:
- The Chung-Hsin Index, calculated as the cube root of weight divided by height (³√W/L x 100), was developed based on the principle of normal distribution.
- Data from 274 newborns, 477 infants/preschoolers, and 629 school-aged children in Taipei were analyzed.
- The Chung-Hsin Index demonstrated normal distribution for newborns and proved more adaptable than Kaup's Index for children under three months, while showing comparability for older children.
Impact:
- The Chung-Hsin Index provides a more accurate and versatile tool for pediatric nutritional assessment.
- This index can be reliably used for children from birth up to 15 years of age.
- Facilitates better monitoring of nutritional status and identification of growth imbalances in diverse pediatric populations.
Abstract:
For evaluation of growth and development of children, a nutritional index is one of the most important guides. Many methods have been proposed to estimate the index. Kaup's Index is one, used frequently to check the nutritional condition, but it is unsuitable for evaluation of infants under three-months-old. From July 1, 1986 to June 30, 1989, random selection of 274 normal, full-term newborns was made at Taipei Municipal Chung-Hsin Hospital; others studied were 477 normal healthy infants and preschool children from the well-baby clinic, and 629 normal healthy students from kindergartens and elementary schools in nearby downtown and rural area of Taipei County. Body weights (by gram) and body heights (by centimeter) were checked before eating. Naked for children under 3-years-old; those older were checked when wearing only underwear. The nutritional index was calculated by formula of 3 square root of W/Lx100 (Temporarily called "Chung-Hsin Index"). The distribution of Chung-Hsin Index was comparable to kaup's Index for children of three months or older. Under three months the distribution of Kaup's Index cannot be adapted as well as the Chung-Hsin Index. In conclusion, it was found that extraction of the cubic root of body weight and body height among normal newborns showed normal distribution. The Chung-Hsin Index, 3 square root of W/Lx100, which was based on the idea of normal distribution, is suitable for evaluation of the balance of body weight and body height not only in children under 3 months, but also in children up to 15 years old.