There are occasions when it is necessary to estimate the age of a child or young person. This may be linked to child protection issues, to asylum seeking minors or to trafficked individuals who may have been removed or kidnapped from their families.  In times of war, natural disasters or social breakdown children may be separated from their families or dispossessed and welfare agencies may rely on age estimates in order to assign the children appropriate services or medical care.

Many such children will not have any documentation and may not know their own ages or birthdays. In some societies such as Afghanistan for example,  dates and ages are not recorded or regarded with the level of importance attributed to such issues in developed western society. Ages may also be recorded differently such as in China where a child is considered to be a year old at birth. Differences in calendars must also be taken into consideration.

When no verifiable documentation is available an age assessment performed by a qualified professional becomes necessary.  It is acknowledged that age assessment is a difficult issue and that individuals have a wide range of characteristics and growth and development rates which are also subject to cultural and genetic influences. Nevertheless professionals have a duty to do the best they can with the available information within the constraints mentioned above in order to estimate a person’s age.