Biomaterial Database

Comparison of weight:height ratio and arm circumference in assessment of acute malnutrition. 1987

E P Carter

Department of Haematology, Hospital for Sick Children, London.

Doctors working in famine relief commonly use the weight:height ratio and the circumference of the mid-upper arm to assess the nutritional state of children under 5. Threshold values indicating moderate and severe malnutrition are usually taken as 80% and 70%, respectively, of the expected weight:height ratio and arm circumferences of 13.5 cm and 12.5 cm, respectively. A study of 1260 children aged 1-5 showed that the thresholds of these two variables yielded significantly different proportions of children with malnutrition, the proportion being much larger when arm circumference was used as the criterion. Adjusting the thresholds would result in closer correspondence between the two variables.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D009748	Nutrition Disorders	Disorders caused by nutritional imbalance, either overnutrition or undernutrition.	Nutritional Disorders,Nutrition Disorder,Nutritional Disorder
D009752	Nutritional Status	State of the body in relation to the consumption and utilization of nutrients.	Nutrition Status,Status, Nutrition,Status, Nutritional
D012016	Reference Values	The range or frequency distribution of a measurement in a population (of organisms, organs or things) that has not been selected for the presence of disease or abnormality.	Normal Range,Normal Values,Reference Ranges,Normal Ranges,Normal Value,Range, Normal,Range, Reference,Ranges, Normal,Ranges, Reference,Reference Range,Reference Value,Value, Normal,Value, Reference,Values, Normal,Values, Reference
D001827	Body Height	The distance from the sole to the crown of the head with body standing on a flat surface and fully extended.	Body Heights,Height, Body,Heights, Body
D001835	Body Weight	The mass or quantity of heaviness of an individual. It is expressed by units of pounds or kilograms.	Body Weights,Weight, Body,Weights, Body
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000886	Anthropometry	The technique that deals with the measurement of the size, weight, and proportions of the human or other primate body.
D001132	Arm	The superior part of the upper extremity between the SHOULDER and the ELBOW.	Brachium,Upper Arm,Arm, Upper,Arms,Arms, Upper,Brachiums,Upper Arms