At one year of age the birth weight of an infant should increase by?

Appeared in: PGIMER Chandigarh NO - 2015

Explanation

A key developmental milestone is that a healthy infant's birth weight triples (increases by 3 times) by their first birthday.
This rapid growth phase is a critical indicator of the infant's nutritional status and overall health.
The general rule of thumb for infant weight gain is doubling the birth weight by 5-6 months and tripling it by 12 months.
For example, an infant with a birth weight of 3 kg is expected to weigh approximately 9 kg at one year of age.

Option A: An increase of only 1.5 times the birth weight by one year is significantly below the normal growth curve and would be considered failure to thrive.
Option B: A fivefold increase in birth weight is an expected milestone for a toddler around the age of 3 years, not a one-year-old infant.
Option D: A fourfold increase in birth weight is the standard milestone expected when a child reaches two years of age.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Infant growth and development milestones, specifically weight gain as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
Monitoring an infant's weight against standard growth charts is a fundamental nursing responsibility during well-child visits. It helps in the early detection of nutritional deficiencies or underlying health problems.
Failure to triple birth weight by one year is a significant clinical finding that warrants further investigation for causes like inadequate caloric intake, malabsorption issues, or chronic illness.
What if? If an infant's weight has only doubled by one year, the nurse should conduct a thorough nutritional assessment, review feeding practices with the parents, and report the finding to the pediatrician for further evaluation of potential 'failure to thrive'.

How to Approach the Question

This is a factual recall question testing your knowledge of standard pediatric growth milestones.
First, identify the key parameters in the question: 'one year of age' and 'birth weight increase'.
Recall the common rules for infant weight gain: double by 5-6 months, triple by 1 year, and quadruple by 2 years.
Compare this recalled fact with the given options.
Select the option that matches the milestone for one year of age, which is '3 times'.

Concept Tested & Keywords

Concept Tested: Infant growth and development milestones, specifically weight gain.
Stem keywords: one year of age, birth weight, infant, increase
Lead-in keywords: increase by
Clinical cues: Age/sex group narrows the expected diagnosis, intervention, or normal reference range.
Negative lead-in flag: false

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E6 Nutrition Kumud Khanna 2e p. 109-111

E6 Ghai Essential Pediatrics(pp 26-904 of 913) p. 10-12

E6 Physiology Ganong 27e Vol 2 Part 2 p. 25-27

Practise the full PGIMER Chandigarh NO - 2015

Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.