Growth Charts
Your child's growth and development is always a concern for many
parents. Is my child too big, too short, too thin, etc. etc. etc? To help
answer that question, we have provided growth charts to help you monitor
your child's development.
What Are Growth Charts?
Doctors use growth charts to compare a child's measurements with those of other children his age. This helps the doctors determine whether a child's growth is adequate. Boys and girls are plotted on different charts because their growth rates and patterns differ. For both boys and girls there are two sets of standard charts: one for infants ages 0 to 36 months and another for children ages 2 to 18 years. The charts are a series of percentile curves that show the distribution of growth measurements of children from across the country.
The growth charts most commonly used in the United States were developed by the National Center for Health Statistics and were first released in 1977. Recently, the center revised the charts to update their data and reflect greater cultural and racial diversity. (The original infant charts were based on data from one study of mainly middle-class, formula-fed Caucasian infants from southwestern Ohio - not a very inclusive population sample. The data for the older children's charts were collected in national health surveys from 1963 to 1974). Also, these new charts go up to age 20.
Looking at the Charts
The new charts represent the most recently published (June 2000) standards for U.S. children. By plotting your child's measurements on these charts, doctors are able to compare your child's growth patterns with data collected on thousands of U.S. children. Remember that only those measurements that are obtained in your child's doctor's office or taken by another properly skilled person should be plotted. Home measurements are frequently inaccurate and can lead to faulty data.
The commonly used standard growth charts include:
For children ages birth to 36 months (3 years):
