• B O Edelu, K K Iloh, O O Igbokwe, C I D Osuorah, O N Iloh, I K Ndu, J N Eze, I N Obumneme-Anyim, O C Nduagubam, and U C Akubilo.
• Department of Paediatrics, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria.
• Niger J Clin Pract. 2020 Sep 1; 23 (9): 1229-1236.

AimsThis study was carried out to evaluate the degree of accuracy of age-based weight estimation methods in assessing the weight of the Nigerian child.MethodThe weights of one thousand, four hundred and fifty-six (1,456) children were measured and compared with the updated Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS), Best guess, Nelson and Luscombe & Owen methods.ResultThe updated APLS, Nelson and Luscombe & Owen methods underestimated the weights in younger children while overestimating in older ones. Best guess overestimated the weights across all ages. The Nelson formula had the best agreement within 10% and 20% of the measured weights among all methods. A linear regression analysis produced an equation for weight estimation: weight (W) = 2.058 Y + 9.925, where W is weight in kilogram and Y is the age in years.ConclusionNone of the weight estimation formulae assessed was entirely accurate in our study, though the Nelson method showed superior agreement.

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