Physical development of children: methods of evaluation, semiotics of main violations

Abstract

The article is focused on increasing awareness of general practitioners — family doctors and pediatricians in assessing the level of physical development of children, which is an integral part of objective examination of a child in different age groups. Based on the analysis of modern relevant information, taking into account the existing local protocols and the World Health Organization recommendations, the main features of physical development of children in different age groups, methods for its evaluation and interpretation of the obtained results are considered in the article. A summary on solution to the problem of physical development based on standard deviation is presented. It is emphasized that such indicators as weight to height ratio and body mass index can not be applied without taking into account the evaluation of growth and weight according to age. Semiotics of the basic violations of physical development in children and provision of primary medical care is studied. The most common causes of growth retardation in children, which may depend on the function of the endocrine system or be endocrine-independent, are presented. The article is intended for general practitioners — family doctors and pediatricians.

Keywords

• children
• physical development
• methods of evaluation, semiotics of violations of physical development