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9. Plotting Measurements
Carefully
calculate the child's age
Incorrect calculation
of the age of the infant or child can be a significant source of error
in plotting, and thus assessment of the growth of the child.
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EXAMPLE
Jesse is
an 8-month old female who weighs 7 kg (5th-10th percentile) and whose
length is 65 cm (5th-10th percentile). If she was plotted incorrectly
as a 6-month old infant, both her weight and length would lie between
the 25th and 50th percentiles.
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Would this error
affect your clinical impression? If this was the only measure of this
infant available, the clinical impression that both weight and length
were between the 25th and 50th percentiles would be interpreted as appropriate growth
for age. However, her actual growth between the 5th and 10th percentiles may be appropriate
if this has been her growth pattern -- or it may warrant further investigation
if it is a significant change from previous parameters.
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