Typical child growth: from 25 months onwards

"Rast deteta u drugoj godini života se postepeno usporava a zatim ustaljeno traje sve do pred pubertet."
  • The child grows well and progresses thanks to: adequate nutrition, good health, safe and secure environment for play and learning and parents who meet his needs in an adequate way.
  • In addition to nutrition and inherited factors, the child`s hormones begin to have a stronger influence on growth.
  • Monitoring the growth of a toddler involves determining the parameters of growth; body weight and body height, once or twice a year and monitoring their progress over time.

From the 3rd year onwards

  • Child`s growth becomes consistent, but changes in proportions take place during the growth. The newborn had a relatively large head and short legs and arms, while now the head`s growth slows down and the body grows, especially arms and legs.
  • The percentage of body fat also decreases, which can be seen in slender extremities and less round head.
  • Although we monitor growth linearly, it still consists of a series of small jumps. Children gain a little weight and then start to grow in height.
  • Seasonal variations are also well known: children grow faster in height in spring, while they gain more weight in fall.
  • From the third year onwards, until puberty, growth is mostly consistent.
  • During this period most children grow in height annually 5.0 -7.5 cm and gain 2-3 kg.
  • The head will grow another 3-4 cm in the next ten years.
  • At this age, there is already a statistically significant positive correlation between the height of the child and the mean height of the parents, i.e. it can be assessed whether the child is growing in accordance with his genetic potential. Genetic height potential (“target height“) is estimated based on the calculation of the mean height of the parents according to the equations different for boys and girls (Tanner's method)
    • Target height for a boy (cm) = (father's height + mother's height)/2 + 6.5
    • Target height for a girl (cm) = (father's height + mother's height)/2 - 6.5

Growth disorder

Growth is a complex process, subject to the influence of numerous factors, some of which can interfere with and disrupt the established growth pattern, such as: inadequate nutrition, chronic diseases, endocrine disorders, medications, family problems, etc. Therefore, regular monitoring of child growth is an opportunity to detect the disorder and intervene in time.   

Children who are born prematurely or with low body weight/length at birth, need special attention because, if after two years they do not reach the height consistent with their parents` height, or their genetic height potential, they need to be urgently examined.
 

Parents! Your child expects you to provide him/her with the appropriate conditions for optimal growth and development.