Anthropometry is the main method of anthropological research, which consists in measuring the human body and its parts in order to establish gender, racial, age and other features of the physical structure, which allow us to give quantitative characteristics of their variability.
Life is a continuous process of development, including the stages of maturation, adulthood and aging. Development and growth are two interdependent and interrelated aspects of one process. Development is characterized by qualitative changes, differentiation of organs and tissues and their functional improvement. And growth is a quantitative change that is associated with an increase in the size of cells, the mass of tissues and organs, and the whole organism as a whole.
Physical development is one of the most important indicators of human he alth and age standards of improvement. The practical ability to evaluate it correctly contributes to the education of a he althy generation. This article will focus on the algorithm for measuring height and weight.
Factors that affect anthropometric indicators
The processes of energy exchange and metabolism are continuously going on in the human body, and they determine its features of development. Weight, height, consistency in the increase in different parts of the body, proportions - all this is programmed by hereditary mechanisms. The sequence of development can be broken under the influence of some external and internal factors. The former include social conditions, a sedentary lifestyle, unfavorable intrauterine development, poor nutrition, improper work and rest, bad habits, and ecology.
Internal factors include heredity and the presence of various diseases.
Knowing the algorithm for measuring height and weight, you can visually assess physical development.
Research conditions
Anthropometry requires the use of carefully adjusted and tested instruments: height meter, scales, dynamometer, centimeter tape, etc. Measurements are recommended in the morning on an empty stomach or two to three hours after a meal. Clothing on the subject should be light - knitted. If measurements are planned to be taken in the afternoon, before that, take a horizontal position for ten to fifteen minutes.
In order for the follow-up assessment to be effective, the algorithm for measuring the patient's height must be followed. It should be remembered that the analysis of anthropometric indicators is the most important element in the study of how physical development corresponds to age standards. Discovereddeviations can be a sign of a certain disease or a risk factor.
Standing height measurement
Since by the evening a person becomes one or two centimeters lower, which is due to natural fatigue, flattening of the arch of the foot and intervertebral cartilage discs, and a decrease in muscle tone, it is advisable to measure height in the morning. The algorithm includes three stages: preparation for the procedure, measurement and completion of the procedure. Let's talk about each of them.
Preparation
- In accordance with the instructions, prepare the height meter for work.
- Introduce yourself to the patient, tell him about the upcoming procedure and get his consent.
- To hygienically clean and dry hands.
- Put a napkin on the platform of the stadiometer (under the patient's feet).
- Ask the subject to take off their hat and shoes.
- Raise the bar of the stadiometer above the expected height of the subject.
Performing measurement
- The patient should stand on the platform of the stadiometer so that the back of the head, interscapular region, buttocks and heels touch the vertical post.
- The subject's head should be positioned so that the earlobe and the tip of the nose are on the same horizontal line.
- The height bar must be lowered onto the patient's head without pressing down.
- Ask the subject to leave the site, if necessary, help him to do this.
- On the lower edge of the bar on the scale to determine the height.
Endprocedures
- Report measurement results to subject.
- The napkin should be removed from the stadiometer platform and placed in a waste container.
- Hands should be treated hygienically and dried.
- Make an appropriate record of the results of the procedure in the medical documentation.
Seated height measurement
The algorithm for measuring the height of a patient in a sitting position is somewhat different from the above.
- It is necessary to ask the subject to sit on the folding seat of the stadiometer, previously covered with oilcloth.
- The patient should sit so that the three points - shoulder blades, nape and buttocks - touch the vertical bar with a scale.
- The subject's head should be positioned so that the earlobe and the tip of the nose are on the same horizontal line.
- The measuring bar should be lowered onto the patient's crown, pressed against the scale and asked to stand up.
- On the left side of the scale, you need to take readings, then you should lower the bar.
- Similarly to the above, record the results and inform the patient about them.
Measuring the height of a pregnant woman: algorithm
First, you need to explain to the pregnant woman the purpose and progress of the procedure. The growth measurement algorithm is as follows:
- Stand on the side of the stadiometer and raise its bar above the level of the expected height of the subject.
- Ask the pregnant woman to stand on the platform of the stadiometer so that the buttocks, heels andthe shoulder blades touched the instrument stand, and the head was in such a position that the outer corner of the eye and the tragus of the ear were on the same horizontal line.
- The bar of the height meter should be lowered on the crown of the pregnant woman and the scale to determine the number of centimeters from the lower level of the bar.
- The data obtained must be entered into the patient's individual card.
- The height meter should be cleaned with a rag soaked in a solution (0.5%) of calcium hypochlorite.
- Wash hands thoroughly.
Body weight measurement
To conduct anthropometric studies, it is not enough to know only the algorithm for measuring height, you must also be able to determine the weight of a person. Measurement of body weight is carried out on floor scales. The patient must stand still on the platform so that the weighing error does not exceed +/-50 grams. Unlike height, weight is an unstable indicator and can change under the influence of many factors. Thus, the daily fluctuation of body weight can reach one or two kilograms.
Knowing how height is measured, the weight determination algorithm will be extremely easy to remember. The procedure also consists of three stages.
Preparing for weight measurement
- First, in accordance with the instructions, you should check the accuracy and serviceability of medical scales.
- It is necessary to balance the device, if mechanical structures are used - close the shutter.
- On the scale platform you need to lay a napkin for a singleapplications.
- The person conducting the procedure must explain to the patient the sequence of upcoming actions.
- Hands should be hygienically cleaned and dried.
Performing procedure
- The subject should be asked to undress to underwear, and take off his shoes. Ask him to carefully stand on the platform of the scales in the middle.
- When standing on the weighing panel, the subject must be held by the hand, it is important to monitor his balance during the measurement process.
- If using a mechanical design, open the weighing shutter.
- Following the instructions for using the device, it is necessary to determine the body weight of the subject.
End of procedure
- The patient should be informed of the results of the measurement of weight and helped to leave the measuring panel, if necessary, hold the hand.
- Remove the napkin from the scale platform and send it to the waste container.
- Hands should be hygienically cleaned and dried.
- Results must be recorded in appropriate documentation.
Algorithm for measuring height in children of different ages
The most stable indicator of physical development in children is height. It reflects the developmental process of the child's body. As a rule, significant growth disorders are accompanied by pathologies of other systems and organs. So, in the case of a slowdown in the growth of the skeleton, often into a lesser or greater extent, the differentiation and growth of the brain, myocardium, and skeletal muscles are slowed down.
How is a newborn's height measured? The algorithm requires a stadiometer in the form of a board 40 cm wide and 80 cm long. On the left side of the device there should be a centimeter scale with a fixed cross bar at the beginning and a movable, easily moving cross bar at the end.
Baby growth measurement technique
- The baby must be laid on his back so that his head touches the fixed transverse bar of the height meter. It should be positioned so that the upper edge of the ear tragus and the lower edge of the orbit are in the same horizontal plane.
- The baby's mother or measurer's assistant should hold the baby's head tightly.
- The legs of the newborn should be straightened by lightly pressing on the knees with the palm of one hand, and with the other hand, you need to bring the movable bar of the height meter tightly to the heels, while the feet should be bent to the shins to a right angle. The distance from the fixed to the movable bar will be the height of the child. You need to mark the length to the nearest millimeter.
How to measure height in older children
The algorithm for measuring the growth of a child up to a year was presented above, and what technique for performing the procedure is suitable for older children? In this case, a height meter is required in the form of a wooden block eight to ten centimeters wide, about two meters long and five to seven centimeters thick. The front vertical surface of the bar should contain two scalesdivisions in centimeters: on the left - for measuring height while sitting, on the right - standing. There should also be a movable twenty-centimeter bar. A bench is attached to a vertical bar at a level of forty centimeters from a wooden platform to measure the height while sitting.
The algorithm for measuring height in children aged one year and older is similar to that used for adults.
Baby weight
Compared to growth, the baby's weight is a more labile indicator, which reflects the degree of development of the muscular and skeletal systems, subcutaneous fat, internal organs, and depends not only on constitutional features, but also on environmental factors, such as mental and exercise, nutrition, etc.
Usually, the weight measurement algorithm (as well as the height measurement algorithm) does not cause difficulties. Children under three years of age with a mass of up to twenty kilograms are weighed on a pan balance, consisting of a rocker arm and a tray with a lower (in kg) and upper (in g) division scales. Children over the age of three are weighed on a balance scale.
