Validity of self-reported height, weight and BMI as applied to trends in malnutrition in Davao City, Philippines.

BACKGROUND: Self-reported height, weight and body mass index (BMI) data are widely used to monitor trends in malnutrition. However, several studies expressed concerns about its reliability-citing trends of over-reporting and underreporting anthropometric data. This study aims to: (1) identify the validity of self-reported height and weight and BMI as compared with measured values and (2) examine the potential recurrence of malnutrition in an urban-based population. METHODS: Paired t-tests and Pearson's correlation coefficients were conducted to identify potential discrepancies between self-reported and measured anthropometric data. These values were collected among 255 male and 400 female participants in the Davao City. RESULTS: Height overestimation in females and underestimation in males were observed to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). Researchers also note an alarming rise in malnutrition cases when the Asia-Pacific Index was applied to the BMI study data. A 40.79 and 22% increase in obese cases among male and female respondents were recorded. CONCLUSION: Modifying participant-gathered height and weight values is likely to result in discrepancies between self-reported and measured values. Identifying a person's height and weight status is crucial to understanding who among the population experience malnutrition. Thus, policymakers are called to strengthen educational support that trains respondents to report reliable and valid health data.

Sex determination from fingerprint ridge density and white line counts in Filipinos.

Fingerprints are distinct physical characteristics that remain unchanged throughout an individual's lifetime. This study derived Filipino-specific probability formulae from fingerprints to be used for sex discrimination in human identification cases. Ridge density from three different areas - distal radial area, distal ulnar area, and proximal area - as well as white line counts from fingerprints of 200 male and 200 female Filipinos were collected and analyzed statistically. Ridge densities of radial and ulnar areas emerged as displaying significant differences between the sexes, with 16ridges/25mm(2) or more in radial area and 15ridges/25mm(2) or more in ulnar area being more likely to be female, whereas 13ridges/25mm(2) or less in radial area and 12ridges/25mm(2) or less in ulnar area were more likely to be male. A white line count of 0 was more likely to be male while a white line count of 2 or more was more likely to be female. The results of this study show sex differences in Filipino fingerprints and support the observation of previous studies that females have finer ridges than males.