Children Growth Awareness Week 2024: Growth and Development

The International Children's Growth Awareness Week takes place in the 3rd week of every September. This year, from 16th to 22nd, 2024, it is earmarked as International Children's Growth Awareness Week.

Is your child growing normally? Many medical conditions affect children's physical growth. Children have a limited amount of time to grow, but they must live with the consequences for the rest of their lives. If growth is neglected, it can have a significant impact on overall health and wellness throughout one's life.

Childhood Growth Disorders

Did you know that abnormal growth is an early indicator of an underlying medical condition? It is critical to understand that a child's growth pattern, whether too fast or too slow, is a major index of his or her overall health. An early indicator of underlying medical conditions that may also affect;

Childhood Growth and Development

Together, we can raise awareness about the critical role that height plays in children's health and why tracking growth could help one in every 4,000 to 10,000 children worldwide who suffer from growth disorders reach their full growth potential.

Every child should grow a minimum of 5cm every year, and hence, every growing child should have his/her height and weight documented every year, as per guidelines. Regardless of their parents’ height, if children consistently miss key growth milestones, they may have a growth disorder.

Unfortunately, the endocrinologist-to-district ratio in India is less than 2, and awareness about approaching them for height disorders is limited. Height does not merely depend on adequate food intake but also depends on maternal and paternal height, proper food composition, hormonal factors, and a number of other health conditions.

A tall child from tall parents may develop a health issue that halts growth yet still appears taller than peers. If we overlook this lack of height gain until they appear shorter, we might miss the window to recover lost height before bone growth stops, resulting in shorter final stature.

Healthy Food for the Development of Child

Designed to support and enhance growth and development

World Health Organization on Child Growth & Development

The World Health Organization (WHO), in fact, lays down guidelines that growth velocity charts should be available for every country (with varying ethnic and environmental factors) and renewed every decade. Still, such charts are unavailable for most countries.

The author has generated growth velocity charts for the first time for South Indian children and has taken part in growth awareness activities in various schools of Nellore, but this needs universal large-scale implementation as height is not merely a physical characteristic but an indicator of the overall well-being of the child.

Conclusion

Similarly, being significantly taller than peers may not be as good as it seems and could be a sign of an underlying hormonal disorder. If not treated, this could be life-threatening in the future. Always talk to a doctor if your child has any developmental issues that need attention.

Frequently Asked Questions