Is a 9-month-old boy weighing 8 kg underweight and malnourished?

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Weight is one of the factors that evaluate the overall development of a child. Therefore, many parents always ask questions about the standard weight of children according to each age, such as a 9-month-old boy weighing 8 kg is underweight, malnourished or not? Today's article will help us answer the above question.

1. Child development at 9 months of age

9-month-old baby is entering a period of comprehensive development both physically and intellectually. The physical development process includes the growth in weight, along with the growth in height of the child. Accordingly, children at this stage have begun to crawl, crawl and can pull themselves up and walk around the table and chairs. The physical development of children is also shown by the fact that children can hold and throw objects, put their fingers in their mouths, clenched their fists and can drink water from a cup. This is also the time when your baby begins to point to objects and has started teething.
Besides the physical development, the emotional development of 9-month-old babies is also clearly shown. At this stage, babies already know how to enjoy everything around them, show anxiety, stress or burst into tears when parents leave. Babies at this age can already sleep through the night, but they also often wake up at night and cry, especially when their parents are not around.
The process of intellectual development in 9-month-old children is shown through the fact that children can recognize their own names, understand a few words, can babble and imitate adult sounds. Children can wave goodbye or play games like peek-a-boo...
Watch now: What to feed a 9-month-old baby to gain weight and height?

2. Is a 9-month-old boy weighing 8 kg underweight or malnourished?

Parents with small children often ask the question whether a 9-month-old boy weighing 8 kg is enough for the standard weight? According to nutritionists, each child will have a different growth rate, depending on different aspects of life including genetic and environmental factors. To determine if a child is growing at a healthy rate for weight, the standard weight-for-age table published by the World Health Organization (WHO) is currently the most accurate number. Accordingly, a 9-month-old boy has a standard weight of about 8.9 kg and a standard height of about 69.6 cm. Also according to the standard weight table of WHO, 9-month-old boys are malnourished when their weight is 7.2 kg or less.
Thus, a 9-month-old boy weighing 8 kg is a normal weight. However, children with this weight will usually be smaller than their peers. Therefore, parents should build children with appropriate nutrition and care.
Watch now: What do 9-month-olds eat to increase height?

3. Building a diet for a 9-month-old baby

For children at the developmental stage, especially 9-month-old babies with low birth weight, it is extremely important to build a reasonable diet for children. Children at this stage in addition to breast milk, they need to be fed with solid porridge, flour, fruit... A child's daily diet consists of 3 main meals and 3 snacks to ensure that they contain all 4 groups of nutrients. The version includes powdered sugar, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals as follows:
Sugar powder contains a lot of foods such as rice, wheat, oats, legumes... Protein is contained in many foods such as rice, wheat, oats, beans, etc. shrimp, crab, fish, meat, egg yolk... Vitamins and minerals are found in many foods such as vegetables and fruits, especially dark green vegetables and citrus fruits. Milk and dairy products such as butter, cheese, yogurt... The daily diet to meet the nutritional needs of a 9-month-old baby includes about 500-600 ml of breast milk, three main meals are powder. , porridge or rice paste combined with cooking oil, green vegetables, fruits. In which, the amount of nutrition in a meal is about 60-90g of white rice, 60-90g of shrimp (or fish, meat..), 15g of fat, ripe fruit and green vegetables... Three snacks for parents can give children cheese, fruit, yogurt, cookies...
Besides, 9-month-old children have front teeth and begin the process of chewing. Therefore, parents can practice feeding their children whole grain porridge and vegetables of finely chopped fruit without grinding or crushing as in the previous stage. The nutritional menu for children should be changed regularly, varied and provided enough nutrients to help children eat more deliciously. Especially for children who are exclusively breastfed, it is necessary to provide iron in the children's menu such as red meat, pork liver, chicken liver....
Unlike the first 6 months of life, 9-month-old children are used to solid foods, so parents need to give children enough water to avoid constipation. Along with that, at the age of 9 months, children still cannot use products such as egg whites, fresh milk, shellfish such as snails, mussels, oysters... because of the high risk of food allergies.
Some nutritious dishes for children at this stage such as salmon porridge cooked with pumpkin, chicken liver and sweet potato porridge, pork and sweet potato porridge, shrimp porridge and spinach...

4. Some notes for parents when taking care of 9-month-old children

Understanding the nutritional needs of children will help parents have the best care regimen. Accordingly, along with nutrition, parents should note a number of issues as follows for a more comprehensive development of a 9-month-old baby:
Parents should let their baby nap, sleep at night at a certain time and encourage Encourage your baby to sleep in his crib. Parents should build a mode of intellectual development for children by reading books to their children every day, choosing books with lots of interesting pictures, colors and materials. Mothers should practice for babies to touch, talk to and point to objects around, read poems to rhymes and sing along with them. Parents should also introduce children to a second language if that language is used in the family.

Parents should ensure the safest child care environment. For example, parents should not let the baby cradle too high because the child at this age can already hold on to stand up. Items such as telephone cords, power cords, and shutter zippers should not be dangling around the house, ensuring a tobacco-free or addictive environment for your baby. Heavy objects, drugs and toxic chemicals must be tightly covered and kept out of reach of children...
In addition to building a reasonable diet, parents also need to pay attention to supplementing with micronutrients. necessary such as: Selenium, Chromium, Vitamins B1 and B6, Ginger, acerola fruit extract (vitamin C), ... Especially the biological zinc to improve taste, help children eat well, gain height and correct and excess weight, good immune system, enhanced resistance to less sickness and less digestive problems.
For more nutritional knowledge and child care for each age, parents should regularly visit the website vimec.com and make an appointment with the leading doctors, pediatric and nutrition experts of the National General Hospital. Vinmec when needing advice on children's health.