Growth Charts In Children

Due to the last of the senses to be developed is sight, even for full term babies as vision matures after birth, it is understandable that premature babies may have issues with vision (March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, 2010c). If a baby is born before 24 weeks gestation, the preterm baby may not have developed all the crucial structures for vision; and the preterm baby may be born with his or her eyelids closed, if born before 26 weeks, but his or her eyelids will open as they mature closely to full term. While all babies are born with the vision issue of nearsightedness, babies become less nearsighted and can focus better on objects further than them as they grow. As preterm babies are still immature, as compared to full term babies,

Look up “Growth Charts”. What did you find/learn? Describe the two types of Growth Charts that are primarily used? Growth charts are made of a distribution of percentiles to show pediatricians, nurses, and parents where a child is at developmentally in terms of growth measurements as compared to other children that are of similar age (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services [HHS], 2010). Depending on the growth chart being used, the chart helps caregivers and health care professionals monitor the growth of a child ranging from 0 to 20 years of age. For example, the WHO growth standards or charts are specifically used to measure the growth of infants and children between the ages of 0 and 2 years, while the CDC growth charts are used to measure the growth of children and adolescents that range between the ages of 2 and 20. One of the main differences between the two charts is that the CDC is recommended as only a reference, while the WHO chart is seen as a standard. The reasoning between the difference is that the CDC chart compares how children in the U.S. grow during a given time, while the WHO chart is based on how children should grow in standard conditions in a more universal perspective. However, both charts allow practitioners to see where the child falls in comparison to others his or her age to see if the child is below, at, or above the normal measurement and how the child is progressing as they physically develop. Additionally, the charts can help the

The first group includes children under the age of 18 months, and the AAP recommend parents do no allow these children access to screen media unless it is for use during a video chat. For children between the ages of 18 and 24, caregivers should limit screen media to only sources that are of educational value like high quality apps, and only to be used by the child when the caregiver is actively involved. The last group that has guidelines for screen time includes children older than 2 years of age. For this group of children and older, the AAP suggest that caregivers limit the screen time to one hour per day and encourage educational or appropriate content to be viewed. While these are only guidelines, parents and caregivers are encouraged to set limits so children can get appropriate sleep, physical activity, and build relationships with family members and friends beyond the use of a screen. In addition to limiting the time spent on screen media, parents are encouraged to ban the use of screen media in bedrooms and are encouraged to monitor the use of screen time based on child’s personal health and developmental stage as each child is unique (AAP,