The use of anthropometry to assess nutritional status.

ABSTRACT

PIP: Over the past 20 years, there has been substantial progress in the standardization of anthropometry, which is the use of body measurements to asses the nutritional status of individuals and groups. This brief examination of use of anthropometry to assess nutritional status has tried to highlight its possibilities for exploring nutritional status trends over time. Although other methods have been employed for this purpose, including clinical and biochemical techniques, none is as immediately applicable in purely practical terms as anthropometry. Children's development patterns during the 1st years of life, when growth is the most rapid, provide much information about their nutritional history, both immediate and cumulative. An evaluation of this growth provides useful insights into the nutrition and health situation not only of individuals but also of entire population groups. An admitted drawback in the present analysis is the limited availability of data despite the wealth of country information that is known to have been collected nationally and regionally. It nevertheless demonstrates how such data, when used judiciously, can permit the identification of risk groups, contribute to the development of appropriate food and nutrition policies, and serve as a baseline against which change over time can be realistically evaluated. It is hoped that with increased cooperation among those responsible, nationally and internationally, for growth assessment and nutritional epidemiology, both the quantity and quality, and the successful management and application of this information will increase.