A study on relationship between various anthropometric measurements used as indicators of acute malnutrition in a slum of Kolkata
Journal Title: Healthline - Year 2012, Vol 3, Issue 2
Abstract
[b]Background:[/b] According to the 2008 Lancet Series on Maternal and Child Undernutrition an estimated 19 million children under -5 suffer from severe acute malnutrition, some 55 million children age 5 or younger suffer from moderate acute malnutrition. In 2006, WHO released new international growth standards. Acute malnutrition is best assessed by weight for height (W/H), but in community level it is not recommended to use. [b]Objectives: [/b]1.To find out the prevalence of acute malnutrition among 6-59 months children in a slum of Kolkata. 2. To compare weight for age (W/A) with weight for height (W/H) and weight for age (W/A) and mid upper arm circumference for age (MUAC/A) as combination indicator with weight for height (W/H) for determination of acute malnutrition. Methods: This Community based crosssectional study was done in the service area of Urban Training Centre in Baghbazar, Kolkata with 84 children aged 6-59 months. Anthropometric measurements of the study population were done using standard methods. Data of the anthropometric measurement were analyzed using WHO Anthro for personal computers, version3.2.2, January 2011 to compute the Z scores of W/A, W/H and MUAC/A. SPSS version16.0 was used to analyse the data. Results: In the study population the prevalence of wasting (W/H) is 23.8%. If combination of indicator low weight for age and MUAC for age was used as an indicator for assessing acute malnutrition then the prevalence rises to 35.7%. The sensitivity and negative predictive value has been increased when combination of indicator low weight for age and MUAC for age was used as an indicator for assessing acute malnutrition in comparison to W/A alone. Conclusion: If W/A and MUAC/A can be used as combined for screening acute malnutrition in the community instead of W/H there would be more chance to screen the acute malnourished children from the community.
Authors and Affiliations
Ranadip Chowdhury, Abhijit Mukherjee, Saibendu Kumar Lahiri
Keywords
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