Strategies for Assessing Physical Development in Children

Growth Charts

• One strategy to assess physical development in children is to compare a child's gender, height, weight, head circumference and body mass index to those of other children of the same age. These charts give parents and doctors an idea of the physical progress an average child of a particular age and gender should have made. Underweight, overweight, tall or short: all of these factors can be assessed based on averages. Not all children will match these averages, for genetic reasons, socioeconomic reasons affecting diet and medical attention, or because of medical diseases or conditions. Growth charts measure physical attributes, but not how a child functions physically.

Developmental Milestones

• Children develop fine and gross motor skills at different stages in their lives. Like growth charts, developmental milestones are based on the typical developments of children according to age groups. Gross motor skills involve functions using large muscle groups, such as walking and climbing. Fine motor skills involve detailed functions, such as using the hands to write or color with crayons. Other developmental milestones involve language, cognitive and social skills. Like growth, developmental milestones are reached at different ages and may be influenced by many factors, such as environment, diet and medical conditions.

Pediatric Assessment

• Growth and milestone charts are among the strategies pediatricians use to assess how well or poorly a child is progressing, but these strategies are beneficial only if used in combination with consideration of the "big picture" involving the child. Pediatricians must note the diet of a child, the environment the child functions in on a daily basis, economic and religious circumstances, and possible pollutants the child may have been exposed to in utero or since birth. Medical evaluations and records kept since birth help a pediatrician gauge the progress a child is making from birth to the present. Children that fall significantly below averages in physical growth and development may be assessed for underlying causes, such as vitamin deficiencies or orthopedic conditions.

Physical Education Program Assessment Scores

• Physical education teachers across the United States are concerned more with the physical fitness of children than with their growth. A short child can be just as fit as a tall child. Teachers have many strategies to measure the physical fitness development of each child. Some of these include having students demonstrate and practice fitness skills, such as push-ups; using games that emphasize certain fitness goals, such as endurance running or jumping rope. Physical fitness assessment is based on the average abilities of children of the same age and gender, and by what doctors consider healthy. New emphasis has been placed on body mass index, or BMI, in light of the country's obesity problems. The University of Florida IFAS Extension reports that BMI charts are now used to chart children starting at age 2. Exercise programs can be tailored to focus on muscle groups that need strengthening or weight reduction based on individual child needs.