№ 6General Pediatrics18 min read
Assesment of nutritional state (percentile chart, eutrophy, dystrophy).
1. Big picture
Assessment of nutritional state is a core pediatric skill because nutrition directly affects:
- Growth
- Brain development
- Immunity
- Puberty
- Bone health
- Recovery from illness
- Long-term metabolic risk
In pediatrics, you do not judge nutrition by “looking at the child” alone. You must measure and plot:
Weight + length/height + head circumference + BMI/weight-for-length + growth velocity
The examiner wants you to know:
- How to use percentile charts.
- What eutrophy and dystrophy mean.
- How to recognize undernutrition, obesity, and severe malnutrition.
- How to distinguish acute versus chronic malnutrition.
- When poor growth is dangerous.
- How to investigate and manage abnormal nutritional state.
2. Definitions
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