Scholars and research workers in the field of Child Development have an important task to establish norms or general characteristics of physical growth and body build. These norms do not explain, but they assist in establishing a range of acceptable variation which is useful in interpreting growth both physically and psychologically. A review of literature reveals that over the past few decades the average body weight and length of infants and children have increased all over the world. This trend may be attributed to an increase in caloric intake, an improvement in nutritional quality, a decrease in childhood diseases including those associated with malnutrition, limitations of child labor, and prohibition of early marriage. It is also believed by some investigators that the increase in body build may be related to genetic and environmental factors
