Where There Is No Doctor 2011 297
CHILDREN’S GROWTH—AND THE ‘ROAD TO HEALTH’
A healthy child grows steadily. If he eats enough nutritious food,
and has no serious illness, a child gains weight each month.
A child who grows well is healthy.
A child who gains weight more slowly than other children, stops gaining weight,
or is losing weight is not healthy. He may not be eating enough or he may have a
serious illness, or both.
A good way to check whether a child is healthy and is getting enough nutritious
food is to weigh him each month and see if he gains weight normally. If a monthly
record of the child’s weight is kept on a Child Health Chart, it is easy to see at a
glance whether the child is gaining weight normally.
When used well, the charts tell mothers and health workers when a child is not
growing normally, so they can take early action. They can make sure the child gets
more to eat, and can check for and treat any illness the child may have.
On the next page is a typical Child Health Chart showing the ‘road to health’. This
chart can be cut out and copied. Or larger, ready-made cards can be obtained (in
English, Spanish, Portuguese, or Zulu) from Teaching Aids at Low Cost (TALC, see
p. 431 for address). Similar charts are produced in local languages by the Health
Departments in many countries.
It is a good idea for every mother to keep a Child Health Chart for each of her
children under 5 years of age. If there is a health center or ‘under-fives clinic’
nearby, she should take her children, with their charts, to be weighed and to have a
‘check‑up’ each month. The health worker can help explain the Chart and its use. To
protect the Chart, keep it in a plastic envelope.
HOMEMADE BEAM SCALE
You can make a beam scale of dry wood or bamboo.
Place all hooks as shown and hang the scale. To make
kg. marks on the beam, fill 2 plastic one-liter bottles with
water. Place the first bottle where baby would hang.
Hang the second bottle, and where beam balances,
make the 1 kg. mark, and so on. With a ruler, measure
the distance between the marks, and make marks for
200, 400, 600, and 800 grams.
two hooks about 5 cm. apart
scale hangs from this hook
beam (1 meter long)
child
holder
movable weight
(about 1 kilogram)
Weight is correct when beam stays horizontal.
DIRECT
RECORDING
SCALE
available
from TALC
(see p. 431)
The growth chart
slips in behind the
scales so you can
mark the child’s
weight directly
onto the chart.
It is best to hang
this and other
scales close to the
ground. A baby
may be scared of
hanging up high.