The assessm nt ot po;tn1t1l atowth and d eve l opmen t and i ts
corre l ati on wi th al l c i rcumstan ces i s now a worl d-wi de poi nt of invest i gat i on. The assessment of growth in ch i l dren has b e come of great app l cab1 l ity in many fi el ds as c l in i cal p ed iatri cs, p ub l i c h eal th , ed ucat i on and physi cal p ertormen ce. Determ i nat i on ot growt h by measurement of wei ght and hei gh t is a simp le me thod for assessment ct the nutr i t i onal status and h eal t h i n growing ch i l dren• Anth ropomet ry appears to be of greatest val ue as i t detects dev iat i ons trom the usual patt ern charac teri sti c of th e growt h peri od ( J e l l i t t , 197 1 ) •

osseo us growth and d evel opmen t has b een assessed us ing t h e l inear d imensi ons ct anthropometry, but these m easures have b een supp l emen ted, and even supp l anted , by ind i cators ct ske l etal maturat ion• Ske l etal maturat i on has p roved to b e a grad ed and fairly ac curat e standard tor the assessment ot

b i o logi cal a•;je• mat urat i on.

Ske letal ag